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TWBiTy-SE\'ElTH IPlAiA 



VOLUNTEER INFANTRY 



WAR OF THE REBELLION 



1861 TO 1865 



First Division 12th and 20th Corps. 



A HISTORY OF ITS RECRUITING, ORGANIZATION, CAMP LIFE, MARCHES 
AND HATTLES, TOGETHER WITH A ROSTER OF THE MEN COMPOS- 
ING IT, AND THE NAMES OF ALL THOSE KILLED IN BATTLE 
OR WHO DIED OF DISEASE, AND, AS FAR AS CAN BE 
KNOWN, OF THOSE WHO WERE WOUNDED. 



A MEMBER OF COMPANY C. 



Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1899, in the office 
of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C, 
by E. R. Brown. 



/' / . 1 ^ 



DEDICATION 



To tl^e Honored Menqory of tY\e Mer] of all rariKs, 
living cirid dead, w>l)0 coiriposed tl^e T^erity-severitl) 
Reginqent of Indiana Volunteers, in tl^e War for t]\e 
Union, 1861 to 1865— \vl)ose \\'lqole-lqearted loyalty to 
Country, extrerne devotion to duty, and "subliiT\e 
repression of self" and self interest, during tl\e period 
of tl^eir service, alone rnade tY\e record of tlqe organi- 
zation conspicuous arnong otl^ers in tt\e briglqt galaxy 
o.f flrqerican History, and w>l)icl^ tY\e v^riter Kno^s of 
and appreciates so rnucl) better tlqan l)e ]\as been able 
to set tl)ern fortlq — tlqis volunqe is rnost affectionately 

dedicated by 

THE AUTHOR. 




Aim AH AM LiNCLON, 



INTRODUCTORY. 



One afternoon in September of the memorable and fate- 
ful year of 1801, a line of men was formed in the State Fair 
grounds at Indianapolis, then known as Camp Morton. Filing 
out of the gate, witli measured steps, timed to the music of 
fife and drum, the column wound its way to Pennsylvania 
street, down that to Washington street, thence west until, 
after various turns, it arrived at a point, then an open com- 
mon, on the bank of White river, ju-t above the old Terre 
Haute and Indianapolis railroad. Here a temporary camp 
was established. 

This was the virtual beginning of a relation between these 
men that was to continue for three yeirs, in fact on through 
life. There were then close to an even thousand of them, and 
about one hundred others, all told, joined them at different 
intervals afterwards. During the three years with which we 
are particularly concerned here, a fraction over one in seven 
of those men were killed or mortally wounded in battle. An 
average of almost another one of the save seven died of 
disease, a harder sacrifice, if possible, to make, and where any 
one of the remaining five was not seriously wounded, some 
other one was wounded twice or more to make up for it. 

As that column of men marched that day, so did its 
diminishing remnant march — on foot, in ranks, through heat, 
dust and mud, each carrying his gun, equipments, ammuni- 
tion, rations, blankets, extra clothing, and later on his tent 
and cooking utensils, plodding along the roads and through 
fields and woods, often wading creeks and rivers, journeying 
from place to place, wherever their services were recjuired — a 
total distance of over four thousand miles. For almost twice 
that distance they rode, mostly in freight cars or open flat 
cars, or between the decks of steamships. All along their 
circuitous, zigzag path, from the populous borders ot New 
York Bay to the lonely oak and pine covereil ridges of central 
Georgia, they left behind them a picket line of new-made 
graves, and of wrecks of living men, who, from that time to 
the present, have not known what il is to be well. 



8 INTHODUCTIOX. 

Who were those mei-i ? What had brought them together? 
IIow about tlieir services, sacrifices, tribuhitions and vicissi- 
tudes? How did they deport themselves, and what kind of a 
spirit was in them? Were they here of their own accord, 
were their motives higli and unselfish, did thev try to accom- 
plish something of good for others as well as for themselves? 
Did they continue faithful to the end? Are they worthy and 
shall they receive the commendation of their fellow men, of 
this and succeeding generations? 

To answer these questions is the purpose of this narrative. 
That is its only justification for being in existence, and its only 
plea for being carefully read and kindly received and remem- 
bered. 

The writer submits the result of his labors with many 
serious misgivings. That it comes far short of doing full jus- 
tice to the subject he is deeplv conscious; and that it does not 
contain errors and misstatements of fact, he does not dare to 
hope. At the last he has had his periods of sincere doubt 
whether or not it was fit to be published. The most that he 
ventures to say in Iiis own behalf, and in behalf of his work, 
is that his intentions iiave been good and that he has done 
what seemed to iiim his best, under the circumstances. 

When the writer first accepted the position of historian 
of his regiment he did so because he was then entering upon a 
period of enforced leisure and recreation on account of im- 
paired health. He believed that it would only relieve his mind 
of other cares, and be a healthful source of enjoyment to him 
to spend that period, of uncertain duration, in the study, travel 
and writing necessarv to prepare the history, thus indulging 
the warm impulses of his heart towards his former comrades, 
and accomplishing something worthy of being done, as well. 
But for various reasons, the time finallv came when he felt that 
he ought to again resume the duties of his business career, 
before the work of preparing the history had been more than 
fairlv begun. Hence, the historv. such as it is, has been pre- 
pared wholly in the scant intervals of an active and exacting 
business life. A moment snatched now and then, an hour or 
two in the evening or late at night, a period when others were 
resting or enjoving themselves in meetings of societies or clubs, 
never wholly free from other responsibilities or the liability of 
interruption, never under conditions really favorable for study 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

or doinj^ litcniry work — these are the ways that the result, 
whether good or bad, has been wrought out. 

Moreover, the writer early found himself at a disadvan- 
tage, not thought of before, in two additional ways : One of 
these was that he lived outside of the territory where most of the 
■others interested in the history lived, and the other was, that he 
lived where he could not have access to books or records, other 
than those lie owned. He has seldom met lliose who could tell 
him what it was necessary for him to know, or who could clear up 
some doubtful point. Having to write for such things and wait 
for an answer, often to iind then that the question had been mis- 
apprehended, has caused much delay and extra labor. The 
same has been true in the matter of depending upon otl.ers to 
consult books and public records. He has often had to suspend 
his labors until such time as he might have an opportunitv of 
doing so himself. It was furthermore his misfortune, through 
a misunderstanding of dates, to miss one or more of the earlier 
reunions of the regiment. At others the matter of the history 
was inadvertently crowded out. Some years of time were 
thus practically lost. If those directly concerned will have 
these facts in mind, it will help them to understand why the 
history has been so long delayed, and why it is not more per- 
fect, now that it is out. 

In the measure of success attained, the writer desires to 
acknowledge his indebtedness to many others. At the head 
of this list should probably stand the name of (^Quartermaster 
Sergeant John A. Crose, deceased. No one else came forward 
as promptly, no one else had as rich a store to place at the dis- 
posal of an historian, and no one else could be more warmheart- 
ed, indefatigable and tireless in labors to promote the history. 
His numerous letters from the army published in the Indianap- 
olis jfoicrna/ and Greencastle Bainicr, his extended and faith- 
fully kept diary and many clippings, facts and dates, all bear- 
ing upon the history and all carefully preserved by him, were 
at once cordially given over. As long as he lived also, he was 
ready to answer any question, furnish any data or help on the 
work in any possible way. What he did was all the more 
"helpful, because he did it with sucli evident freewill. Sad that 
he did not live to see the history published. His kindlv eves 
must have closed for the last long sleep all tiie more reluct- 
ixntly on that account. 

Next in order of early and also tHicient help, stands the 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

name of M. II. Van Buskirk, of Company F. He, too, fur- 
nished a diary, covering the whole period of the service. In 
supplying facts and dates omitted by Crose, and in giving dif- 
ferent views of things, because recorded by one occupying a 
different station, his diary was invaluable. He has also been. 
like Crose, in always standing ready to help, in any and every 
way. 

John Parham, of Company F, furnished a briefly-kept 
diary covering a part of the time, as did also E. G. Boicourt, 
of the same company. Mr. Loughery, of Edinburg, Ind. ^ 
son of Lieutenant Lougherv, of Company C, furnished a 
similar diary, kept by his father. 

Lieutenant Rundell, of Company G, gave the writer the 
use of a series of letters written by himself and others to his 
patriotic mother, who carefully preserved them. These letters 
and others furnished in smaller numbers by many different 
persons, reflected a light upon the inner, personal Iiistory of 
soldier life, and upon the unstinted loyalty that this great 
country receives from her young men, that is wonderful. 
Lieutenant Rundell has also been one of the members of the 
regiment who could be appealed to with a certainty of 
response in every emergency. 

Capt. J. C. Williams w'as living in Missouri during the 
earlier period of the work on the history. Since his return to 
Indiana he has made large contributions of materials that have- 
been most helpful in clearings up uncertain points, and supply- 
ing information not attainable before. He kept an extended 
diary during the war, in which he recorded every day, with 
great precision, the leading facts observed by him. Among 
these were numerous statistics, names and d ites not known at 
the time by others. Captain Williams has also furnished a 
large part of the photographs from which the plates were 
made to illustrate the history. This is particularly true of 
the portraits of the officers of the regiment. 

As to other forms of assistance, the name of John Bres- 
nahan, of Company A, is easily entitled to first place. His 
help has been very great. Living in Washington has enabled 
him to do more than would have been possible otherwise. 
Among other things, he supplied the writer with a complete 
set of the "Rebellion Records," as far as they relate to this 
narrative. Some of them were furnished in advance of their 
issuance from the Government printing olllce. How, or by 



INTRODUCTION. Jl 

what means he secured these valuable public documents, it 
would, perhaps, not be fair to inquire. 

Capt. Joseph Balsley, of Company II; Lieut. John R, 
Rankin, Company A; John Deaxmin, Joseph D. and John 
D. Loughlin, of Company B; Sergt. W. P. Ellis and Nelson 
Purccll, Company E; Sergt. Joseph Sellers, Company I; 
George Mehringer and Corp. Conrad Eckert, Company K,' 
and doubtless others, should be mentioned as having rendered 
valuable aid. 

When the writer visited the battlefields of the regiment 
m the East, John Bresnahan, at his own expense, accom- 
panied him to the battlefields of Chancellorsville and Cedar 
Mountain. With respect to the latter field in particular, this 
service was essential to the history of that engagement. Like- 
wise, when the writer visited the battlefields of the Atlanta 
campaign, Captain Williams, Corp. George East and John 
Ilinchee, all of Company C, accompanied him; the two for- 
mer not only paying their own expenses, but also contributing 
their proportion to the expenses of Hinchee, who was able to 
give his time only. Both East and Hinchee had been present 
with their company in all of these battles, and without them 
along it would have been useless for the writer to go. 

As to the form and mould in which the narrative is cast, it 
was decided upon after no little reflection. To write from the 
view point of one in the ranks and relate facts and events as 
they appeared to him in that position, seemed unavoidable, it 
the writer was to do it. That was where he was, and that 
was the only view that lie had. In reference to this it may be 
said, that if this way of relating the matters in hand seems a 
little odd to some, because they had a slightly different under- 
standing of things at the time, it will not seem odd to the 
majority, because they occupied a position similar to that of 
the writer. 

A matter less easy to decide to the satisfaction of his own 
mind, was whether or not the writer was to go forward and 
tell a continuous story, as if present and witnessing what he 
was relating, when, in fact, he was not always present. In the 
mterest of brevity, as well as to avoid the introduction of more 
than one form of narrative, it was decided to do as has been 
done. 

From the very outset, the writer has I ad the ideal in 
mind that this was to be the history of a regiment, of an organ 



12 IXTRODUCTIOX. 

ized body of men — rather than the history of one man or any 
number of individual men. The aim has steadily been, there- 
fore, to show what this organization did and the kind of ma- 
terial of which it was composed. If individual names have 
been mentioned or individual deeds recorded, it has only been 
because it seemed necessary to an understanding of what was 
being related or as an example or illustration of what was true 
of others. In pursuance of this ideal no biographies have 
been inserted. Who this or that man was before the war, 
where he has lived or what he has accomplished since the 
Avar, are not sufficiently relevant to admit of their statement 
in this place. 

Where distances are exactly stated in the narrative it 
means, in most cases, that the writer has measured theni since 
the war. Material facts or figures have also been carefully 
considered and will not be found far astray, however they 
may appear at first thought. ^Vhere criticism has been made 
or opinions expressed, the writer is alone responsible for 
them. 

jSIonticello. Ixd., September 1, 1899. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE RECRUITING OF THE REGIMENT. 

The Twenty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry vva& 
recruited during the hist days of July and first days of August, 
18C1. It was among the earliest of those regiments which 
sprang to arms in response to President Lincoln's first call for 
800,000 men to serve '• three years or during the war," and 
which bore so largely the brunt of that great contest. 

If a radius should be drawn upon the map of Indiana, 
extending from Indianapolis south, a distance of seventy-five 
miles, then swung around westward until it extended from 
Indianapolis due west, it would indicate, in a general way, 
the section of the State in which the men of the regiment 
lived previous to the war, and where a majority of the surviv- 
ors still reside. The only exceptions to this of much note 
would be that, when extending from Indianapolis southwest, 
the radius would be slightly too short; and. when extending 
west, it would be longer than necessary. 

The towns and counties where the companies were nom- 
inally recruited were as follows : Company A, Greencastle, 
Putnam county; Company B, Raglesville, Daviess county-' 
Company C, Edinburg, Johnson county; Company D, Bed- 
ford, Lawrence county; Company E, Washington, Daviess 
county; Company F, Bloomington, Monroe county; Com- 
pany G, Morgantown, Morgan county ; Company H, Paris, 
Jennings county ; Company I, Putnamville, Putnam county! 
and Company K, Jasper, DuBois county. 

These towns were the principal centers of recruiting 
activity. Perhaps in every instance more men of the several 
companies belonged in the towns named, or in their immedi- 
ate vicinity, than in any other one locality. But in all the 
companies other towns and localities were largely represented, 
and, in some, the representation from several other places was 
almost if not quite equal to the one named. 

The same was even more true with respect to counties. 
There were men in all the companies from other counties than 



14 HISTORY OF TIFE 

those named. In some instances the men who really lived in 
the county named, in connection with a company, were in a 
minority. In one or more instances, parties interested in re- 
cruiting went to points at considerable distances from their 
homes, and secured men who otherwise would not have been 
in the regiment. A case in point was where Captain Buehler, 
of Company D, went from Bedford back to Brownstown, 
where he had formerly lived, and secured the enlistment of a 
number of men for his company. There was also a sprinkling 
of men in the Twenty-seventh who belonged in other states. 
Persons engaged in business or at work, or who iiappened to 
be attending school or visiting in Indiana, enlisted with us, 
though their homes were not in the state. In our ranks were 
also, we are proud to reflect, a few refugees from the South. 
Some of those heroic men who, refusing to be led by others, 
or subm.t to popular clamor, dared to remain loyal to the old 
flag and, compelled on that account to flee their homes, came 
North and enlisted in the L^nion army, were in the Twenty- 
seventh. Through the precipitate disbanding of a partially 
organized company in Camp Morton, ordered by the Gov- 
ernor because the prospective captain had proved to be p-'ofli- 
gate, about fifteen men from White county and one from 
Pulaski county, in the northern part of the State, joined their 
fortunes with the Twenty-seventh, after its companies had 
been fully organized. The men from White county served in 
Company F, while the sole representative from Pulaski 
■chanced to be the writer. For similar reasons, probably, 
scattering men from several other counties joined the diflerent 
companies at Camp Morton. 

The time when the Twenty-seventh was recuited being 
just after the first battle of Bull Run, it goes without say- 
ing that the sentiment of the people of Indiana was then very 
deep and intense. They had been slow to believe in the pos- 
sibility of a clash of arms. Taking counsel of their own 
inclinations, they could not think that the disafi'ected ones at 
the South would go to such an extreme. Fort Sumter, while 
it had awakened them to a realization of facts which they had 
been deaf and blind to before, still did not fully convince them 
of the fierce and relentless spirit behind the uprising. It 
required Bull Run to do that. Now, though none even yet 
■began to divine the great severity andl ong duration of the strug- 
;gle, all were fully convinced that a terrible war was at hand. 



TWENTV-SEVKXTH IXDIAXA, 



15 



It was not alone because the Union army was assailed 
and driven back at I5ull Run. It was bad enough that men 
should be bred upon and killed by those who had been their 
fellow citizens, who, in fact, were their kinsmen and acquaint- 
ances. But that they should be subjected to gross insults and 
indignities, even be assaulted and bayonetted, after being 
wounded, and when they were willing to surrender, and that 
the poor, mangled remains of the killed should be denied 
respectable burial, or be mutilated, as if in the hands of sav- 
ages, their bones being e.xposed as relics, or .sawed and carved 
for ornaments, solely because they had worn the uniform and 
marshalled under the flag of their country, demanding only 
submission to its rightful authority and obedience to its equal 
laws— these things were as a fire in the bones. 

Multitudes of men went about their usual employments in 
a dazed, mechanical way, with tears in their eyes and with 
dire thoughts and purposes taking shape in their minds. Pro- 
fessional men lost interest in their callings, merchants for-ot 
to consider their profits or the wants of their customers, a"nd 
mechanics found it impossible to concentrate their thoughts 
upon what they were trying to do. Farmers in plowing and 
reaping, some prayed and others swore, from one end of their 
fields to the other. Mothers went silently about their home 
<iut.es with red eyes and swollen eyelids, and fathers choked 
down when asking a blessing at the table. Boys coaxed their 
parents every day for their consent to enlist, and husbands 
told their wives at meal-time that they would surely die if 
compelled to stay at home. 

Interest in military matters was universal. Large num- 
bers of young men, with many not so young, organize'd them- 
selves into companies and were drilled, at frequent intervals, 
on the village green, by those who had been in the Mexican 
war, or had had some other military experience. To these 
drills the whole country-side turned out. Even the boys from 
eight to twelve, gathered in bands by themselves and marched 
here and there, carrying wooden guns. 

Everybody was eager to learn the purport of the latest 
dispatches. Newsboys sold armloads of papers. Persons 
passing along the road in country districts were hailed, and 
asked it there was anything new from the front. 

The seat of war at this time was in Virginia, with mat- 
ters in Missouri assuming more and more of a war-like aspect 



16 



HISTORY OK THE 



In both of these states, the n.mes of little interior towns, and 
insignificant cross-roads and creeks, unheard of before, and 
that could scarcely be found on any map, were upon all hps 
Armies were rapidly being mobilized in their v.c,n,ty and 
battles seemed imminent. n,.,rtc 

But the current was not all in one direction. In all parts 
of Indiana, particularly in the southern half of the State, were 
people who openly sided with the insurgents. Just at this 
period they were probably less out-spoken than at any other 
during the war, yet their real sentiments were no secret Of 
the original native settlers of central and southern Indiana 
those from below the Ohio river largely predominated. Most 
of them had moved over fron. Kentucky, though many of them 
were natives of Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and other 

Southern States. . j f. 

A small per cent, of these people of Southern antecedents 
were intense haters of slavery. They or their progenitors 
had fled from the South for the sole purpose of escaping its 
baleful influence. This class, without exception, were intense y 

loyal to the Union. Nobody saw clearer than they that the 
rebellion was simply a conspiracy of the slave oligarchy 
wholly in its interest and having its intolerant, murdeiou. 

'^'^But as might have been expected, the larger part of 
these Southern emigrants and many of their descendants were 
.till closely allied with the section of their nativity. lhe> 
had come north for no other reason than the hope of bettering 
their condition in a newer country. By all the ties of kindred^ 
early association and with a blind faith in the prestige and 
leadership of the South, they held loyally to it. Through all 
the previous agitations and discussions leading up to the pres- 
ent crisis they had championed its side among their noghbors. 
While not many of them at this time openly and "nqual.hedly 
iustified the rebellion, some of them did ; and all united n the 
ivowal that those engaged in it had had ^^-ng provocaUon 
With still greater vehemence and persistence, if not greater 
unanimity, they repeated another statement, which was : - ou 
never can conquer the South. 

There were peop'e also not of Southern stock who, ne^er. 
theless, were old time Southern sympathizers. -^J^^ 
were various and need not be enumerated here. These people 
Zere alwavs out-spoken and generally loud-nouthed. ,n just- 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 17 

fving slavery and everything done by slave holders. They 
affected a special aversion for a negro, and the torment of 
their lives was that the " niggers " might some time "'come 
up and live amongst us." In the event of war there could be 
no question as to which side they would espouse, at least as 
far as talk went. These were the people who deceived the 
Southern leaders, to the extent that they w'ere deceived, with 
reference to the material aid they might expect in the North. 
Those who knew them best never had any other feeling than 
one of contempt for these Northern " dough-faces," as they 
were called. 

As has been said, these people of all classes w'ho were so 
stout in their affirmations that the rebellion could not be sup- 
pressed, and who in their hearts desired that it might not be 
done, were sa^^ing and doing less just now than they had been 
and would be again ; yet, in a more or less surreptitious way, 
not a little was being said, and the influence exerted was 
potent. 

Out of such conditions as these the Twenty-seventh and 
most of the earlier volunteer regiments from Indiana, sprung. 
It was in such a white, furnace heat that its materials were 
refined, crystalized and tempered. If men entered the army 
anywhere or at any time, under conditions resembling drift- 
wood floating upon the current, it w'as impossible that many 
such should be in our ranks. 

It has been a disappointment to the writer, that tlie iwa- 
terials have not been available for a detailed history of the 
gathering together of the men composing the regiment. So 
few of the facts have appeared to be in the possession of any 
one person, and in most instances everything pertaining to 
the subject has become so vague and shadowy in the minds 
of all, that anything like a particular and circumstantial ac- 
count of the enlistment of the men has been beyond reach. 
In outline, the methods pursued and many of the attending 
circumstances seem to have been similar in all cases. The 
method most common was to circulate a paper, the heading 
to which bound those attaching their signatures to serve in the 
army for the suppression of the rebellion, " for a period of 
three years or during the war." vSeveral such papers, evi- 
dently copies of the originals, are still on file in the Adjutant- 
General's Office at Indianapolis, mementos of the recruiting 

of different companies of the Twenty-seventh. \\'ithout ex- 
2 



18 HISTORY OF THE 

ception, as far as known, the circulation of these papers and 
the solicitation of signatures to them was inaugurated by 
those who were afterward commissioned officers, or expected 
to be. They were sometimes materially aided in their work 
by citizens, of more or less prominence, who, it was under- 
stood, were not themselves intending to go. These last made 
speeches, wrote articles for the papers and in private conver- 
sations and by personal appeals, labored for the end in view. 
In no instance known to the writer, was there, in the re- 
cruiting of this regiment or any other Indiana regiment, re- 
cruited at this period, any very large meetings held or any 
great demonstrations made. Meetings, w'hen any were nec- 
essary, were usually small, and the proceedings were charac- 
terized by order and deliberation. The fife and drum were 
invariable adjuncts, but were used more to advertise the gath- 
ering than with any thought of exciting passions. The 
speeches consisted wholly of arguments showing why it was 
right and necessary for the friends of the Union to wage war 
as was proposed, and the sacrifices, privations and dangers of 
service in the army were prominently set forth, rather than 
kept back. The line of thought presented by all public 
speakers and expressed, over and over, in private conversa- 
tion, by all friends of the Union and those favoring the prose- 
cution of the war at the North, was substantially the same. 
They said : The rebellious states are the aggressors, they have 
struck the first blow, and nations, like individuals, have the 
natural, inherent right of self-defense. The principle of seces- 
sion once admitted, nothing remains of the Union, under the 
compact of the constitution. Revolution can not be justified 
without a Bill of Rights, or other evidence that petitions and 
remonstrances have been repeatedly made and persistently 
denied. Whatever its faults, this is the best government in 
the world, and to break it up and destroy it is a heinous crime 
and sin. This is the only experiment anywhere, on a large 
scale, of self government among men. If this fails, the hopes 
of earth's oppressed millions will be blighted. Our forefa- 
thers bled and died to give us these free institutions; we must 
not be so unworthy as to allow them to perish. Our flag has 
been fired upon and dishonored, the men wearing the uniform 
of our army have been shot down ; are we so cringing and 
craven hearted as not to resent it.-* etc., etc. Considerable was 
also said about the relative fighting qualities of Northern and 



TWENTV-SEVKNTH INDIANA. 10 

Southern soldiers. On this point the claim of the South that 
their soldiers were superior to ours, was, of course, denied and 
scouted ; but it is an open cjuestion whether a great many 
Union soldiers did not go to the Held rather under the spell 
of the oft-repeated, defiant assertions of the enemies of the 
country that they were not quite equal to those with whom 
they would have to contend, this spell being cast over them, 
in large part, by their own friends and neighbors. All of 
these arguments and appeals were, of course, designed, not 
only to meet the natural demands of the situation, but were 
in reply to assertions and claims of a contrary nature. 

Frequently a party of from two to a dozen, armed with 
fife and drum and sometimes accompanied by a speaker or two, 
went by appointment to a country school-house or neighbor- 
ing village, to hold a meeting, and, if possible, secure recruits 
The progress of such a party across the country, up the lanes 
and through the patches of woodland, was heralded by the 
squeak of the fifes and the rattle and thump of drums. But 
far more impressive, to those whom they passed on the way, 
was the stars and stripes which they usually held aloft. To 
the heart of many a country boy came thrills of patriotism and 
moving impulses to heroic deeds for country, as he beheld 
this sight, while toiling in the field or waiting at the roadside. 

At all such me tings there was more fife and drum music. 
The speeches were made and, following these, an opportunity 
to sign the paper, or " volunteer," as it was called, was 
aflForded. Sometimes there was a singing of patriotic songs 
by the amateur singers of the vicinity. In this the young 
ladies especially exerted themselves, and were often very 
•effective. Some enlistments were expected and others were 
great surprises to all. Occasionally a quiet, silent young 
man, who ha 1 previously said nothing to any one, or in any 
way given a hint of his intention to do so, would go forward, 
with white face and compressed lips, and affix his name to the 
roll. Not infrequently such action was followed by a shriek 
from the boy's mother or sister, who thus had had a sliarp 
arrow pierce her heart. Sometimes there was bitter weeping 
by many persons, after the meeting adjourned. 

But, all things considered, it is amazing how earnest and 
resolute the mothers, wives and sisters were in those terrible 
days of trial. None could foresee the many dread conse- 
■quences that might result from going off to such a war, and 



20 HISTORY OF THE 

none could feel the weight of the blow it was sure to entail on 
affectionate hearts, to the extent that they themselves did. 
Yet no class encouraged enlistments more than they. Mothers, 
with breaking hearts, when sons asked their consent to go, 
said : " Yes, my son, go ; and may God keep you and bring 
you back to us again, if it be His will." The younger 
women — the sisters and sweethearts — were equally ready to 
encourage enlistments, even though it did cost them un- 
speakable agony. The young man who, without a palpably 
good excuse, hesitated about enlisting, found little favor with 
them, and often found himself fiatly jilted. The influence 
exerted by loyal women in preserving the Union can scarcely 
be overstated. 

As to previous occupations, by far the larger part of the 
Twenty-seventh were farmers. They came fresh from their 
country homes to answer what they believed to be the distinct 
call of duty, and, when the war was over, most of the sur- 
vivors went back to the farm again. The wheat crop, which 
is relatively very important in Indiana, had just been har- 
vested, and most other prominent crops had been practically 
laid by, leaving them freer to leave home at that time than 
they had been earlier in the season. 

But almost all other callings were represented. If occa- 
sion had required, a complete and competent court of justice 
might have been made up from among us — judge, attorneys, 
clerk and sheriff, with duplicates for all the other county 
offices. Almost every company had one or more practicing 
physician, or medical student, capable of administering to the 
wants of the sick. In addition to the chaplain, regularly 
ordained ministers were not wanting, as well as others not so 
far along in their high calling. Our teachers, though mostly 
young and of somewhat limited experience, were numerous 
enough, and of those who lived through it, some attained 
marked eminence after the war. When at Camp Hamilton 
we were drawing Hour and were sorely perplexed how to 
utilize it, bakers in plenty turned up, as well as brick masons 
to build the ovens. At Berryville, when we came in posses- 
sion of a printing office, we found we had no lack of printers. 
In other emergencies we discovered that we liad competent 
millers, sawyers, carpenters, blacksmiths, etc. If, on some of 
our long marches, a train of cars had luckily fallen into our 
hands, we had a full train crew ready, from engineer and fire- 



T\VKXTY-SE\'ENTII INDIANA. 21 

man to rear brakeman. If we had captured a steamboat, we 
could have manned it entire, including a pilot for almost any 
of our western rivers. Thus the Twenty-seventh was com- 
posed of those hardy, self-reliant, energetic men of affairs 
which the hardships and demands of western life tend to 
develop. They were men capable of taking care of them- 
selves, and all of them had had plans looking to that end. 
Some thirty years after the muster-out, a careful research 
developed the fact that, of the three hundred members of the 
regiment then living, none were in the poor-house and only 
three were in soldiers' homes; while of the total number who 
survived the war, not more than one or two had been con- 
victed of crime. 

As to nativity, the majority of the Twenty-seventh were 
simplv western conglomerates. At least ninety per cent, of 
the officers and men, if not more, were American born. But, 
while a few of them were descendants of that band of numer- 
ous progeny — the original freightage of the Mayflower — and 
of other early settlers of the Colonies, many of them were 
onlv of the third, or second, and even of the first generation, 
born this side of the Atlantic. If some of us proudly claimed 
a strain of Puritan or Cavalier blood in our veins it had unde- 
niably been crossed with German and Low Dutch, Scotch and 
Irish, until it was impossible to decide which now predomi- 
nated, and few cared about it anyway. As is generally the 
case everywhere, those who bore surnames evidently derived 
from the Puritans, Huguenots or Scotch Covenanters had, at 
the same time. Christian names inherited from a more recent 
ancestry, of different stock. The British isles and the north 
of Europe had furnished tlie original parentage. Industrious, 
temperate and frugal, with deep moral convictions, self- 
respecting, liberty-loving, fearless and enterprising — they are 
the best class of emigrants that have ever abandoned their 
native country to make their home in another. Fused into 
one people, not only by a common citizenship, common inter- 
ests of other kinds, and long association, but by intermar- 
riages, their posterity is, still farther improved. Of such 
was the bodv of the Twenty-seventh. Whether descended 
from more remote or more recent arrivals in the country, is 
not material. 

One of our companies had such a preponderance of Ger- 
man-speaking men in it tiiat we called it our "• Dutch Koom- 



ZZ VIISTOllY OF THE 

pany." Yet most of these young men who spoke the English 
hmguage brokenly, had been born in the United States, and, 
in some instances, their fathers before them had been. With 
them, in the same company, were also men not of German 
descent, and, along with the rest, were three or four genuine 
Hibernians, rather recent arrivals. All of the companies had 
more or less of these "sprigs of the Emerald Isle" — enough to 
furnish most of the mother wit and quick retorts of the regi- 
ment, as well as to take care of any raw whiskey that might 
otherwise have escaped confiscation. It has been tersely said : 
" The Irish fight for all countries and have none of their own," 
but they make good soldiers. 

A characteristic of the Twenty-seventh that often attract- 
ed attention was the large proportion of tall men which it 
contained. It is quite generally known that we had w-ith us 
the tallest man in the entire United States army. This has 
been definitely settled. Capt. David Buskirk stood full six 
feet eleven and one-half inches in his stockings. It was the 
plan, at first, that his company should be composed w^holly of 
men six feet tall and over. Though this was found imprac- 
ticable, the company still had in it, at the start, eighty men of 
that class. 

It would be safe to say that the other companies averaged 
at least fifty six-footers each. Some quite short men (or boys) 
brought the average down considerably ; but the matter of our 
unusual average height was the subject of frequent remark, 
particularly in the early part of our service. 

And we measured well, in comparison with others, in at 
least one other respect. In that respect we exceeded some 
others by many feet. Qiiartermaster-sergeant Crose, often 
referred to his comical, though laborious, experiences in suppy- 
ing the men with shoes that were large enough for them. 
Each time he drew shoes it was necessary for him to bundle up 
the fives and sixes and go around among the neighboring regi- 
ments and exchange them for nines and tens. For this pur- 
pose, the Ninth New York and Twenty-ninth Pennsylvania 
were his favorite resorts, while they remained in the brigade. 
They contained mostly city-bred men, with diminutive pedal 
extremities. 

On the point of the average age of the men of the Twenty- 
seventh, it is more difficult to speak, in the enforced absence 
of the ligures. The opinion has been expressed that the average 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 23 

was higher than in most other regiments. The writer does 
not concur in that opinion. The fact that our men had been 
so generally accustomed to out-door life and to physical labor, 
may have given them an older appearance than if the contrary 
had been true. Anyway, the few known facts at hand and 
the general impression as it is recalled, seem to the writer to 
be conclusive that the Twenty-seventh was below, rather than 
above, the average age. At all events, the average could not 
have been high. 

A computation from the muster rolls of the Union army 
has shown that of 1,012,273 soldiers, the age of 133,475 was 
put down at eighteen — almost fourteen per cent. The num- 
ber set down as being nineteen was 90,215, or ten per cent. 
Less than five per cent, was recorded as being twenty-five, and 
the number decreases rapidly as the age increases. No age under 
eighteen being recognized in law. all of those below, as well as 
those at that age, would be enrolled as being eighteen. The 
real average would, therefore, be slightly below the apparent 
average. 

Most of the companies in the Twenty-seventh had, at the 
start, at least one boy, and some of them had two, of quite ten- 
der years, enlisted as musicians. Some of these could scarcely 
have been more than twelve years old, and none of them were 
more than fourteen or fifteen. Though some of them probably 
carried muskets later on, it was not so intended in the begin- 
ning. In the company in which the writer served were at least 
six persons, enlisted as musket holders, who were really only 
sixteen years old when mustered in. Part of them were barely 
past that age, and the others lacked a few days of having 
reached it. But the ages of these persons did not bring them 
into striking contrast with others. Some were much older, of 
course, but by far the larger part were not greatly removed 
from these six in age. There does not seem to be any reason 
to conclude that this was an exception. On the contrary, the 
other companies had substantially the same class of men with 
respect to age. 

The most vivid and realistic reminder of the scenes and 
experiences to wliich tliis narrative relates, that the writer has 
had since muster-out, was aft'orded him by the sight of a regi- 
ment of ruddy-faced, sweaty and dust-covered state militia 
which he saw in a parade some years since. They were wear- 
ing loose blouses and caps of dark blue, tlie exact pattern of 



24 HISTORY OF THE 

those we wore so long, with pants of light blue. They also 
carried Springfield muskets. 

There was a long procession, composed of various classes of 
men and of civic societies, not without interest. But when 
this regiment of militia filed around the corner and moved by, 
with a half-careless, jaunty grace, marching in a soldierly way 
without any forced effort at excessive order, their steps timed 
by the playing of a drum corps, in which were several young 
lads, the mounted officers riding before and behind the col- 
umn, and a silk, bullion-fringed flag, of regulation pattern, 
waving and fluttering over the center — a certain relic of the 
Civil war felt a violent thumping under his vest, as if a steam 
trip-hammer had suddenly opened up business in that quarter. 
He was tremendously impressed that, in many of its features, 
he had before him what he had never thought to see again in 
this world — the exact reproduction of the old Twenty-seventh 
as it was in the days of long ago. 

Some of the officers of this militia regiment were bearded 
men, one or two being somewhat grey ; but the rank and file 
were simi^ly boys. A very few of them may have been as old 
as twenty-eight, or even thirty, though eighteen to twenty- 
two would have caught by far the greater number; and there 
were more of them who were below eighteen than there were 
of those above twenty-five. That would be the writer's 
deliberate judgment as to the men composing the Twenty- 
seventh. 

"Just at the age 'twixt boy and youth, 
When thought is speech and speech is truth." 

The departure from their homes of the men who went to 
war, and their final separation from those near and dear, is a 
subject often mentioned. No attempt will be made to picture 
these scenes in this connection. Individual cases differed as 
widely as individual persons differ, in temperament and sur- 
roundings. We, who survived, can never forget either the 
time or place that we, for the last time, shook hands with 
father or brothers, or, for the last time, folded in our embrace 
mother, sister, sweetheart or wife, and said good-bye. For 
almost half of the Twenty-seventh, the tender, sacred memory 
has been cherished and treasured through the years by the 
other parties alone. In their cases the ones who went away 
did not return. 

Most of the companies were given a warm send-off by 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 2o 

the people of their Iiome towns. WHien they were finally 
ordered in to camp, the day of their departure being an- 
nounced, the members of the company assembled, and the 
occasion was made one peculiarly inspiring and impressive. 
The entire population turned out, a public dinner was served 
to the company by the ladies, after which, there was speaking, 
sometimes a flag presentation, and then the men took their 
departure amidst the booming of cannon, the waving of flags 
and handkerchiefs, the cheers and shouts of loyal, warm 
hearted men and women, and prayers and tears innumerable. 



CHAPTER I!. 



CAMP MORTON. 

Our recollections of Camp Morton are still vivid. Many 
things, as they throng through our memories, are tender and 
sacred, others are smile-provoking, and some plague us with 
a sense of dissatisfaction witli ourselves. We can see plainly 
enough now, that, while at heart we were patriotic and had 



f^^ 




Hon. O. p. ^sIorton. 
Indiana's peerless war-time governor. 

good intentions — perhaps lofty intentions — our conceptions of 
practical warfare and the duties of a soldier, as well as some 
of our performances, w^ere not any too creditable. 

Camp Morton was simply the ground and buildings 
where the Indiana State Fair was held annually. Its location 
was then some distance out of Indianapolis, to the northeast, 
but the city has long since spread over and beyond it. The 



TWENTY-SEVKNTH INDIANA. 27 

emergency arising suddenly, tliis was doubtless considered 
the best place available for the rendezvous of volunteers. Its 
name was that of Indiana's great war governor. The build- 
ings in the fair grounds had never been very good ones. At this 
time few changes had been made in any of their appointments. 
A cleaning up, not any too thorough, with the possible addi- 
tion of some floors and platforms, to facilitate the sleeping of 
the men, were the sum total of visible alterations. Embryo sol- 
diers had their quarters in stalls and pens built for horses, 
cattle and swine, and in the halls provided for other exhibits. 
The speed ring, where the swift-goers had won purses or 
made records, were now appropriated by stalwart young 
patriots, learn'ng military evolutions. 

The comforts of Camp Morton were meager. Men were 
furnished no bedding. Those who had brought none from 
home, as the writer and many others had not, did largely 
without. A part only of the sleeping places were provided 
with anything softer than lumber. The writer first had his 
quarters in a horse stall where there was straw, not any too 
clean or pleasant smelling. Later a change in his relations 
brought him into another building, where, with only one 
ragged, cotton comfort, he slept upon bare boards. His was 
no exceptional experience. Perhaps the original plans con- 
cerning the two places were still the controlling factors. 
When a man occupied a horse stall it was all right for him 
to be bedded with straw, but when he took the place of a jar 
of preserves or a pumpkin, consistency required that he should 
deport himself upon a bare shelf. 

The matter uppermost in all our minds after our arrival 
in Camp Morton was our muster into the United States serv- 
ice. The mustering officer then on duty in Indianapolis was 
Maj. T. J. Wood, of the regular army, afterwards a major- 
general of volunteers. He must have been a very busy man 
during those days, as the position he occupied was a most 
onerous and responsible one. He usually came to camp every 
day ; sometimes working all day and into the night. The 
method was simple. There was no examination by medical 
experts. The company or squad seeking muster was formed 
in line and the mustering officer used his best judgment, after 
carefully looking the men over, as to their physical qualifica- 
tions. He passed slowly along the line, first in front, then in 
the rear, scrutinizing critically each recruit. He next sta- 



28 HISTORY OF THE 

tioncd himself at the head of the line and, the roll being 
called, each recruit, as his name was pronounced, stepped a 
few paces to the front. This gave the major an opportunity, 
not only to note the presence of each one but also to detect 
anv lameness or defect in movement. To those who were 
accepted the usual oath was at once administered. The mus- 
tering officer took a position directly in front of the line, and 
taking off his hat raised his right hand and instructed the 
men to do likewise. He then repeated the oath in measured, 
serious tones, and at the conclusion, asked the men if each and 
all assented, to which each responded, "I do! " Most of us 
considered the taking of the oath a very impressive ceremony, 
and indeed it should be. 

Even under such a cursory physical examination a con- 
siderable number were rejected, which was always a sore dis- 
appointment. To avoid this various devices were resorted to. 
Grey hair was snugly dyed ; beard betraying age was closely 
shaved ; arms were held near the body to conceal crooks or 
other defects, and fists were deftly closed that the major's 
keen eyes might not detect the absence of fingers. More 
commonly, hollow chests were enlarged by increased clothing, 
and boys stretched themselves to the utmost, or stood on tip 
toe, to make up for lack of size and age. 

If rejected once, men hardly ever gave up without a sec- 
ond, or even a third or fourth trial. For this purpose they 
appeared with another batch of recruits, sometimes in another 
company. If the mustering officer came to camp late, or was 
obliged to continue his work until darkness came on, it was a 
favorable opportunity for these questionable cases. In some 
instances men were thus accepted after two or three previous 
rejections, and the}- made the hardiest of soldiers. 

It is alleged that certain of the boys who were under the 
minimum age put the figures 18 in their shoes, and, when 
asked how old they were, answered innocently, " I am over 
eighteen." The writer was not smart enough to think of such 
a clever expedient. When he was mustered Major Wood 
stopped in front of him, and, laying one of his hands on each 
of the writer's shoulders, asked kindly, " Bub, how old are 
your" Of course the answer had to be "eighteen," even if 
it was " stretching the blanket." More boys were doubtless 
accepted at this time and there was more looseness and irregu- 
larities of other kinds, not only because of the urgent need of 



TWENTY-SKVENTII INDIANA. 29' 

soldiers, but because of the apathy and disloyalty of so many 
parents. When a man was even suspected of lacking in 
hearty allegiance to the country, if his boy wanted to go into 
the army, everything was done that could be to favor him. 

After linally being mustered into the service, it was almost 
impossible for us to possess our souls in any kind of patience. 
There was an anxiety and restlessness about us almost beyond 
control. Our strongest desire was to go to the front. .Since 
actual war existed and we were really in the army, why not 
put in our whole time in fighting. Preposterous as it may now 
seem, some of us were afraid, even at this period, that the 
war would be over before we would get to take any part in it. 

Perhaps our next highest ambitions in their order was to 
go home on a furlough and go out into the city, to see what we 
could see. Being thwarted in our yearning to revel in scenes 
of desperate daring and awful bloodshed, we could not think 
that there was anything else to do but have a good time some- 
where. It requires a long while and alas ! some bitter experi- 
ences for a raw recruit to learn the priceless value of drill and 
discipline. To go home one needed a furlough, and these were 
necessarily limited, both as to number and duration. Most of 
the companies were furloughed home in a body, for a short 
time, after being mustered in, and nearly all individuals who 
applied later got an additional furlough for a few days. But 
the range in that direction was, in the nature of things, re- 
stricted. Not so with visiting the city. Every day a large 
number from each company were allowed passes. Company 
commanders wrote them, and to be good at the gate they had 
to be approved at camp lieadquarters. In addition to this 
method of getting out of camp, "running the guard" was ex- 
tensively practiced. To leap over the fence and be off for a 
season of frolic or sightseeing was but the work of a moment, 
attended with few unpleasant consequences. That method 
was often preferred over asking for a pass, and usually resorted 
to if a pass was denied. It was not difhcult to jump over the 
fence anywhere, while the guard's back was turned, and be 
away before he could force a halt. But the point mostly 
chosen to run the guard was at the northwest corner of the 
camp. There the (juarters of the men joined the fence, so the 
guards could not halt or challenge the truant until he was well 
started, and once outside, a short run over low ground brought 
him under cover of timber. The spectacle of one or more men 



30 HISTORY OF THE 

dashint^ furiouslv across that open space, with all the guards 
in the vicinity shouting " Corporal of the guard" etc., etc., io 
well remembered. There were no patrols or provost guards in 
the city at that time. In a few instances guard-breakers were 
pursued and caugiit. In more, the guards were doubled and 
they were arrested on their return. The punishment, however, 
was seldom severe enough to be more than a joke. 

A limited amount of drill without arms and an occasional 
turn at standing guard, was all the duty required of us here. 
On guard we were commonly armed with inferior muskets, 
but sometimes with only a club. Drill was about the same as 
voluntary. Anyone who did not want to drill could avoid 
most of it with little ditliculty. Very trivial excuses were 
accepted. vStill, there were so many in the camp that, any 
pleasant day, all the available drill ground was occupied. It 
is due to most of those who afterward became the best soldiers 
and most efficient officers of the regiment to say, that even at 
this period, they took a lively interest in the drill. It was 
not unusual for some to drill more than the regulations of the 
camp required. As we close our eyes now in reflection, we 
can see numberless squads and bands of men standing erect in 
line, or marching and wheeling here and there ; and we can 
hear a hundred drill masters as, with lusty voices, in staccato 
tones they command, "Right dress," "Back in the center," 
^' Forward, march," "Halt," "Left, left, left," "One, two, 
three, four,"' etc. 

There was some additional delay at Camp Morton because 
some of the companies were not full. A few men had been 
rejected, others had gone off disappointed at not getting the 
offices they aspired to, while still others had quietly flunked 
out, after a short taste of camp life. Diligent etTorts were 
being made by men furloughed home to supply these vacancies. 
Two or three other regiments were also being organized in 
the camp at the same time. Recruits were therefore arriving 
constantly. They came in squads, platoons and companies. 
jSIany came with noisy demonstrations, the larger companies 
often being accompanied by drum corps, and carrying llags 
and banners. Prominent among such arrivals was August 
\Villich, with his company of Germans. He afterward be- 
came a brigadier-general. 

A large nunber of civilians visited Camp Morton, both 
men and women. Many of them were friends of the soldiers 



TWKNTY-SKVKNTH INDIANA. 31 

\vho came to see them before their departure to the front. 
Some were persons called to Indiaiuq^olis on business and who 
wanted to see the camp, out of curiosit}-. Excursions were 
run by the railroads and on certain days large numbers of 
people came from particular localities to visit particular com- 
panies. An instance of this kind the writer knows of, but has 
not been able to resurrect the facts in detail. The people of 
Edinburg and vicinity came on a day appointed beforehand 
to serve Company C a luxurious dinner and present the com- 
pany with a ilag. Many survivors of the regiment will re- 
member the flag. It was the regimental flag at the outset and 
was of fine gros grain silk, with gold bullion fringe. It was 
so badly torn at Cedar ^Mountain that it was not used as a 
regimental flag after that. 

These frequent accessions to our numbers, as well as the 
steady stream of coming and going of those already attached 
to the camp and of visitors, imparted a peculiar interest to the 
gate of the camp. It always furnished a vent to our pent up 
emotions and enabled us to pass away an hour easily by loiter- 
ing around the gate, joining in its gossip and witnessing its 
stirring incidents. 

All and in all, we imagined we were rendering great serv- 
ice to our troubled country. We believed we were acting 
warlike and were sure that we looked like very bold soldiers. 
We wrote numerous long epistles home, enlarging upon " life 
in the army." 

Iiut, in his first attempts at playing soldier, the enlisted 
man, whatever his verdancy or his vanity, is no sort of match 
for the inexperienced officer. The first lacks opportunity and 
something also of equipment; a commissioned officer only can 
spread himself sufficiently to make a record. To say that 
many persons with no military experience, or barely enough 
to give them a severe enlargement of the craniun, as a slight 
military experience is almost sure to do — to say that such a 
person, when turned loose in a camp of soldiers, armed with 
a commission, a cheap, new uniform, glittering shouldei straps, 
sword and sash, with a navy revolver tugging at his belt, cuts 
a broad swath, is putting the case very mildly. He not only 
has a seven-foot cut, with a self-binder and bundle-carrying 
attachment, but is also a stacker and thrasher as well. There 
is no room for anybody else in the field. His very severe, 
truly war-like cast of countenance; his vainglorious, toploftical 



32 inSTOHY OK THE 

strut ; his furious, hi<rh-\vrought attempts at giving the regu- 
hition salute and invoicing his first commands ; his hasty, 
offensive and wrongful assumption of authority — these and 
many other things, it requires no great strain of memory to 
recall. There was some of it at Camp Morton. Most of the 
Twenty-seventh otlicers had rather a mild attack of the lunacy, 
others escaped it entirely. Those who had it worst were de- 
cidedly convalescent after a few weeks of real service. 

Most of us had our first experience in cooking at Camp 
Morton, as well as our first trial at eating Uncle Sam's delica- 
cies. As a rule we had been brought up to have almost any- 
thing we liked best in the way of substantial food, and had had 
it prepared in a way to tempt the palate of a king. Few people 
the world over have a more liberal or varied store o draw from, 
and none know better how to cook, than the mothers, wives 
and daughters of our bounteous Iloosier State. Blessings on 
them ! Some of us are conscience stricken to the present hour 
that we had not appreciated them more, without the necessity 
of such a severe lesson. When we came to stand before the 
fire, our eyes filled with smoke, if not with genuine tears, 
overwhelmed with doubt and perplexity as to what to do and 
how to do it, many a spoiled boy and some spoiled husbands 
experienced a sudden and violent taking down, whose benefit, 
it is to be hoped, has been permanent. 

There was no such thing as a cook house or mess tent at 
Camp Morton. Rations of pork, beans, rice, sugar, coff'ee, 
molasses and bread were issued ; a sufiicient number of sheet- 
iron kettles and frying pans were provided, together with 
seasoned cord wood, and the men were expected to do the 
rest. There was some slight pressure or suggestion in the 
way of forming men of the same company into small messes 
of, say. Six to ten men each, though there was nothing binding 
about that. If an individual wanted his rations apportioned 
to himself alone, as was the case with a few, it was done. 

There is no instance recorded or remembered where any- 
one either asked for or received any instructions in the culinary 
art. If war was to break out in these latter days there would 
be myriads of cook books and recipes on sale immediately, 
covering the whole ground. The sum total of human knowl- 
edge and experience relative to the cooking and compounding 
of such articles of food as are issued to soldiers, in order to 
make them palatable and wholesome, could be bought for five 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 33 

cents. Not so then. Not so to tlie end of the Civil war. as 
far as the writer is advised. What was more strange, no 
attention was given to the subject by the medical department 
of the army. The matter of the proper disposition of slops 
and refuse was looked after later on, but not here. Possibly 
it was not considered necessary here, the fact being taken for 
granted that the men would live principally on slops and refuse 
anyway. In the messes each member took his turn in prepar- 
ing meals. When one's turn came he simply went to his task 
and, over an open fire, out of doors, with what native sense or 
ingenuity he possessed, or guided by what he could remember 
of seeing his mother or wife do, he prepared the meal. To 
make idols of some of those compounds and bow down to 
them and worship them w'ould not violate the Second Com- 
mandment. They were not graven images, and neither were 
they likenesses of any thing that is in the heavens above, or 
in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth. Ugh ! 
The fact so tersely expressed in the Latin proverb alone saved 
us : '• A keen appetite is the best seasoning." 

In course of time, at Camp Morton, in one of the messes, 
it came Jack's turn to cook the dinner. For that reason he 
was excused from drill. He was called "Jack," by the way, 
not because his mother had named him that, nor because she had 
named him John. He was given the name after his arrival in 
camp because of the striking resemblance everyone thought he 
bore to the Jack of Clubs, and as long as he remained with 
the company he never heard any other name. While out on 
the drill ground the horrible suggestion came to some one that 
Jack might forget or neglect to hand-pick the beans before 
cooking them. He had been found careless on some points, 
such as using the frying pan without washing it after yes- 
terday's use, wiping the knives, forks and tin cups with 
something strongly resembling his dirty pocket-handkerchief, 
using water for making coffee that had stood in a camp kettle 
over night, etc. This suspicion concerning the beans was 
mentioned to others and a lively interest was at once awakened 
concerning Jack's movements. No sooner was drill over, 
therefore, than the mess hastened with one accord to learn the 
facts. It was all too true ! With great satisfaction Jack 
announced that dinner was all ready ; but he said he had not 
noticed anything wrong with the beans. As a matter of fact 
that lot of beans had a good many rotten and mouldy ones 
3 



34 



HISTORY OF THE 



amon<^ them, and the honest fanner had permitted his hens to 
add somewhat to their quantity in a way not calculated to 
improve their quality. But the mischief was done, and with 
that mess it was those beans or no dinner. They had their 
dinners. 





it 




Sergt. a. R. X'axsickle. Co. (j. 

SHOWING OUR KIRST UNIFORM. 

On September 10, our uniforms finally came. We had 
been anxious to have them and almost ran over each other to 
be served first. We thought them magnificent. All who 
could possibly do so obtained furloughs home at once that 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 35 

their friends, particularly their sweethearts, might see them 
arrayed in their military clothes. But our anxiety to have a 
uniform and our over-estimate of their beauty in general, had 
led us astray. It did not take us long to find out that those 
were a bad fraud, and that in them we cut a figure verging 
close to the ridiculous. They consisted of a pea-jacket, cap 
and pants, all dark blue.* Imagine the appearance of a thou- 
sand men. mostly young, but quite a few ranging from twenty- 
five to thirty-five, clothed in little coats the length of an ordi- 
nary vest and wearing diminitive skull caps, barely large 
enough to perch on the top of their heads. And remember, 
that the jacket, pants and caps are all not far from the same 
size and length, while the men differ greatly in these respects. 
This gives one a coat coming well down to the crotch, but at 
the same time gives him too much waist measure, almost 
enough to go around him twice. The coat of another comes 
but little below his arms and when he buttons it, it squeezes 
him until he is red in the face. The same is true of the pants. 
Jklisfits and disproportions hold high carnival, while the 
quality of the clothes was coarse and the workmanship 
extremely rough. 

But those uniforms did gloriously at Camp Morton com- 
pared with their behavior afterwards, when we got our accou- 
trements. There was no strap or nib on the jacket anywhere 
to prevent the belt from slipping down, when weighted by 
the bayonet and cartridge box. And, slipping b.low the 
jacket, the belt rested its weight on the pants, which in turn 
sagged them down until a goodly expanse of the nether gar- 
ment appeared between pants and jacket. The neat and 
soldier-like ( ?) aspect of the regiment on battalion drill and 
review, as well as the personal comfort of those concerned, 
can easily be inferred. 

The writer is thoroughly convinced of two facts pertain- 
ing to Camp Morton. One is that the pine or poplar boards 
upon which we slept there were of some rare species, with no 
more like them anywhere, harder than any live oak or coco- 
bolo. The other is that those August nights were not far 
above the temperature of an average polar winter. After the 
■extended experience of sleeping on the cold, wet clay of Mary- 

*So thought the writer and most others, when this was written, 
some years ago; portraits of the boys taken at the time clearly proved 
this to have been an error; the pants were light blue. 



36 HISTORY OF THE 

land and Virginia and suffering as often as we did from the 
creases and welts made in our anatomies by extemporized 
mattresses of coarse cedar and pine boughs, even a smooth 
oak plank seemed to have a soft side, and ro this day, when 
occasion requires, it is no hardship to sleep on the floor. But 
the way those boards at Camp Morton made themselves felt 
can never be forgotton. Likewise, later oqi, to sleep out in 
the open air, under the shining stars or a leaden sky, covered 
only by a single blanket, with hoar frost or snow and the 
ground frozen next morning, was comfort and luxury com- 
pared with those shivering niglits at Indianapolis. 



CHAPTER III. 



CAMP MORTON TO WASHINGTON. 

One day two strange officers came into Camp Morton, 
mounted. One was rather an elderly man, below medium 
size, light built, dark complected, and had short, black whis- 
kers. Tiie other was younger, not far from forty, not above 
medium height, but of good weight, one hundred and seventy- 
five pounds, anyway. He was not what would be called a 
military-looking man, much less one to put on airs ; but 
withal, a prepossessing officer; rather quiet and undemonstra- 
tive in manner, yet evidently accustomed to taking care of 
himself. He w^as not forbidding in his bearing, still he had 
that about him which would at once convince any one that he 
was not a man to take liberties with. Very few would risk 
the chance of pulling his nose, though it was common for him 
to pull it himself. Like David, the soldier-king of sacred his- 
tory', he was "of a ruddy countenance" — particularly as to 
his hair and whiskers. 

The first-mentioned officer w%as recognized by some of our 
number as Colonel Benton, of the Eighth Indiana, which was 
encamped at another point near the city, about ready for the 
field, as reorganized for three years. The other had been the 
lieutenant colonel of that regiment in the three months' serv- 
ice. Following closely upon this information was the addi- 
tional news that this last had been, or was about to be, ap- 
pointed the colonel of our regiment. That was the first sight 
to most of us of Silas Colgrove. \Vith his appearance in this 
narrative the play of Hamlet is no longer without Hamlet 
himself. Without Colonel Colgrove there would certainly 
have been a Twenty-seventli regiment, and that regiment 
would doubtless have had a history. But the history as it is 
bears his impress to a very marked degree. He assumed com- 
mand of the regiment at once. The next evening he came 
out to camp and ordered it out for dress parade. There had 
been dress parade in the camp regularly each evening before 
that, and all the organized companies had participated. But 



88 



HISTORY OF THE 



this was the first time the ten companies comprising the 
Twenty-seventh held dress parade by themselves. The line 
was formed in the open ground immediatelv north of the main 
entrance to Camp Morton and facing towards it. Colonel Col- 
grove has since told us how deeply he himself was impressed 
at that time. The number of the men, their great average 
height, the length of the line as it stretched out to the right 




Gen. Silas Colguove. 

ONLY COLOXEE OF 27tH IXDIAXA. 

and left ; particularly the thought of what had brought the 
men together and what was to be their fate, and his responsi- 
bility concerning them, in the trying, deadly days to come, 
were matters that wrought upon him with great force. 

It is not known what inlluences led Governor Morton to 
appoint Colonel Colgrove to the command of the Twenty- 



JWENTV-SEVENTH INDIANA. 



89 



seventh. The Colonel says himself he never solicited the 
place, and never knew of anyone doing so in his behalf. He 
was expecting to go out with the Eighth again, until he 
received notice of his promotion. At the same time I. I. 
Harrison was appointed lieutenant-colonel. He had been 
offered the position of major previous to this, and had 
declined it. He had been the adjutant of the Eighth. 

Both appointments were good ones, and if any objections 
were raised to them in any quarter the fact was not generally 
known. Following immediately after these appointments, 




Capt. VV'kll.man, Co. K. 

AFTERWARDS SURGEON 9tII 
IND. CAVALRY. 



Maj. John jSIehringer. 

afterwards col. 91st ind. 

and brevet brig. gen. 



John Mehringer, captain of Company K, was appointed major ; 
J. J. Johnson, captain of Company G, was appointed surgeon ; 
Rev. T. E. Whitted, was appointed chaplain, and Sergt. R. 
B. Gilmore, of Company A, was appointed adjutant — all on 
the recommendation of the line officers of the regiment. J. 
M. Jamison also received the appointment of quartermaster, 
and Dr. G. V. Woollen that of assistant surgeon. 

The second day after Colonel Colgrove took command of 
the regiment we removed from Camp Morton and established 



40 HISTORY OK THE 

a camp by ourselves. That was our first march, before 
alluded to. The Indianapolis papers had usually published 
notices of new regiments passing through the city, comp'i- 
menting them on their fine appearance, soldierly bearing, 
military maneuvers, etc., etc.. so we made frantic efforts to 
merit similar compliments. With the verdancy of all begin- 
ners in military expei ience, almost every private, as well as 
every officer, considered himself especially appointed to see 
that his neighbors walked erect, kept the step, and in all 
other respects exhibited themselves properly. After we 
started, a shower of rain came on, and we put the oilcloth 
covers over our caps; these had long aprons falling down 
behind, designed to keep the water off of our necks. In that 
kind of "gear" we passed through the city. Strange to 
relate, we searched in vain for the expected compliments in 
the papers. We did not understand then that such things 
Avere always furnished read\'-made by some member of the 
regiment concerned. 

Our new camp near White river was christened Camp 
Morris. That was our first experience of living in tents and 
sleeping on the ground. Our introduction to tent life and to 
ISIother Earth as a bed was rather severe, as it rained most of 
the time we were there. We do not remember that anything 
else was particularly disagreeable, except the mud about 
camp. That was ankle deep. Here was also the first oppor- 
tunity the different companies had had of seeing much of each 
other. Before this the quarters had been too far apart to pro- 
mote acquaintance or sociabilit3^ Xow w-e had barely the 
proper company distances. It was a source of amusement 
which continued for a long time, for the different companies 
to listen to each other's roll-call. Many names seemed very 
odd to those not accustomed to hearing them. To add to 
this, the orderly-sergeant called no given names. When more 
than one of the same name were in a company they were 
designated and called by number, as Brown Jirst, Brown sec- 
ond, etc. Then, they were all called with astonishing rapid- 
ity. A company had no use for an orderly who could not 
call the roll as fast as chain lightning. To listen to a roll 
called in that way, plentifully interspersed with such names 
as Clapsaddle, Cutsinger, Fiddler, Parham, Straddley, Tug- 
gall, Tadlock, etc., sometimes striking a name and reeling off 
as many as to the sixth was, in the estimation of many, equal 
to a circus. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 41 

Tlie first ni^ht after our arrival at Camp Morris, an event 
occurred which gave the Twenty-seventh an unenviable no- 
toriety and secured for it about the only extended notice the 
Indianapolis papers ever gave it, at this stage of its service. 
It was also understood to have shortened materially its stay in 
the city. 

Across the street, east of the camp, were a few one-story 
frame houses, in one of which was kept a saloon and small 
stock of groceries, the proprietor being rather a raw German. 
We were obliged to go to the wells at these houses for water, 
and to have so many neighbors using his pump was not sat- 
isfactory to the saloon and grocery keeper. Accordingly, 
about dark, he chained up his pump, fastening it with a lock, 
and forbade all soldiers coming on his premises. Without 
knowing of this, some of the men went there after water, 
to find themselves ordered away with many oaths and im 
precations upon their devoted heads. Not only this, but, in 
reply to their mild assertions that they had come for water 
without knowing that he had prohibited such a course, he flew 
.into a passion, ran and got a revolver and, with very little 
farther provocation, fired it two or three times, whether at the 
men or only in the air to frighten them, could not be seen. 
Moreover, his vile tongue once loose, he inveighed against all 
Union soldiers as a class and against the cause in which they 
were enlisted, even applying some desperate epithets to 
President Lincoln and others in authority. 

As these things were reported in camp, it was no trouble 
at all to raise a crowd, which proceeded to " clean him out." 
His windows were riddled with stones, his doors were broken 
to pieces and his stock in trade was carried away and de- 
stroyed. Colonel Colgrove was absent at the time, as were also 
most of the officers. Those present made ineflPectual eflPorts 
to prevent the violence. Not a quarter of the men took any 
part in it. Yet the regiment as a whole was censured. The 
report went out that the Twenty-seventh was composed of 
lawless men and toughs. As a matter of fact, there was not 
the slightest notion of plunder, or the least thought of vio- 
lating law connected with the matter. The first man to enter 
the house took nothing for himself except a few sticks of 
candy. Those who did what was done really did it for the 
same reason that they afterwards fought at Gettysburg and on 
nearly twenty other battlefields. It was done because they 



42 HISTORY OF THE 

felt in honor bound to do it. They had enlisted to suppress 
disloyalty, and when it was flaunted in their very faces what 
could they do less? After the lapse of these years, the writer 
is not yet ready to condemn them. On the contrary, he, in 
common with many soldiers, has been unable to rid himself 
of the conviction that, if vastly more of that kind of work had 
been done in such cases, early in the war, its duration and 
cruelties might have been greatly abridged. 

We remained at Camp Morris but five days, though,, 
looking back at this date, the time seems longer. The same 
is true of all our early camps. We were under such a high 
pressure of expectancy and restlessness that the time passed 
very slowly. We were at fever heat during these days over 
our approaching departure for the seat of war. That we 
were about to be sent somewhere seemed evident. The ques- . 
tion was, where and to what destiny? The majority of the 
regiment favored the East, the vicinity of Washington, in- 
stead of Missouri. This was a fair illustration of how little a 
soldier can foresee as to what will prove best for him. Mis- 
souri would have given us a much more agreeable service, 
among Western troops, with a smaller death rate. We all 
saw this later. Once we received orders at Camp ]Morris to 
cook rations and be ready to move on short notice, but the 
notice did not come. In the meantime we drew brogans — 
those broad-soled, big-heeled shoes which proved such invalu- 
able friends to the soldiers. We also drew overcoats and 
canteens. 

Mere, also, must have occurred our formal muster-in to 
the United States service. The Indiana adjutant-general's 
report shows this to have been on September 12th. The writer 
has a dim recollection of the companies being called into line 
while at this camp, and of sundry things being done, the real 
import of which very few, if any, seemed to understand 
clearly. As the men were wearied standing in line, the 
officers seemed to be engaged looking over papers, as if com- 
paring and verifying names, dates, etc. A curious fact about 
the matter has been that in no diary, letter or written docu- 
ment of an^- kind that has come to the notice of the writer has 
any allusion been made to it in any shape or form, except in 
the records of the adjutant-general's office. It was univer- 
sally understood that, when we were examined at Camp 
Morton and had the oath administered to us bv the United 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 43 

States mustering officer, we were then being mustered into 
the United States service. The regimental non-commissioned 
staff were also appointed and mustered at this time. 

The orders which finally carried us away from the state 
were received September 14th. That same evening we 
marched into the city and turned in the guns, cartridge boxes 
and belts, which we had received a few days before. The 
guns were all old Hint-locks, rudely changed to use caps, and 
it was questionable which was their most dangerous end. 
The next morning we struck tents, packed up our mess-kettles, 
etc., and they were carted to the cars. In the evening of 
September 15, 1861, we marched to the Bellefontaine rail- 
road, east of the Union depot, and embarked upon the train. 
It was Sunday, almost the time for the ringing of the evening 
church bells. The weather was mild and clear. A delight- 
ful calm prevailed all around, if not within us. There was 
no delay ; as soon as we were in the cars the whistle sounded, 
the bell rang, the steam hissed, and — we were ofT. The 
people who had gathered about cheered, and we ourselves 
gave a long series of wild huzzas. At all the towns passed 
before dark we received the warmest greetings. Citizens 
Hocked to the railroad in crowds, waved handkerchiefs and 
flags and cheered. Among ourselves we had an hilarious 
time until long into the night, singing, laughing and making 
merry. Still, deep down in our hearts was a strong vein of 
seriousness. We could not forget that we were starting on a 
long journey, with the prospect of a long absence, and that 
our errand was war ! It was well for us that we had no real 
foresight as to the very large number among us who would 
never return. 

We were well convinced now that our destination was 
Washington or its vicinity. The first morning found us at 
Crestline, Ohio ; the second, at Pittsburg, Penn. ; the third, at 
Ilarrisburg; the fourth at Baltimore, and about noon of that 
day we arrived at Washington. At all the intermediate points 
mentioned we changed cars, and at most of them experienced 
considerable delay. 

The second day the regiment was divided between three 
trains, all run at a high rate of speed. When the first came 
within two miles of Alliance, Ohio, it met with a bad wreck, 
which might have been a hundred-fold more fatal than it 
proved. As it was, James Allen, of Company A, lost his life 



44 IIISTOKV OF THE 

— the first death in the regiment. The accident was caused 
by a two-year-old calf of the male persuasion. He was feed- 
ing along the road, where the approach of the train was con- 
cealed from him by a wood pile. Its sudden rush and roar 
seemed to confuse him, and, making a wild leap toward his 
companions on the opposite side of the track, he landed under 
the wheels, between the locomotive and tender. Tie was 
dragged some distance and torn into shreds. But the tender 
at length parted from the locomotive and jumped the track, 
carrying the train with it. Fortunately a number of freight 
cars were ahead, loaded with the regimental baggage and 
officers' horses. These cars were crushed and piled up in a 
shapeless mass. Comrade Allen had been riding with the 
baggage along with others, to look after it, but was the only 
one seriously hurt. The horses received a terrible shaking up, 
though none of them were permanently injured. Two coaches 
carrying men lacked but a little of turning over. The track 
was soon cleared and we proceeded on our journey. 

We greatly enjoyed the long daylight journey over the 
AUeghanies. The scenery was very beautiful and entirely new 
to most of us. At the Horse-shoe curve many of us thought for 
awhile that the two ends of our long tram were separate trains, 
running in opposite directions. We were nervous about passing 
through Baltimore unarmed, all the more as we arrived there 
in the night — some supplied themselves with rocks before en- 
tering — but we saw no sign of danger, and were hospitably 
treated by those we met, more so than we had been at Ilarris- 
burg. The capitol building at Washington, with its huge 
outlines of white marble, and the unfinished dome, surrounded 
with its scaflPolding, was the first object in that city we rec- 
ognized. It revived our enthusiasm to see it, and from that 
point on it was lively among us again. 

But all in all, the ride from Indianapolis to Washington 
was about as trying on the regiment, as the writer remembers 
it, as any subsequent march or campaign. Of course, there 
were exceptions, but so there were at other times. We had 
our way about it, and rode the whole distance in passenger 
cars, except a small part of the regiment rode from Harris- 
burg to Baltimore, and still more of us from Baltimore to 
Washington, in freight cars. Soldiers at that period of the 
war foolishly considered it a slight put upon them to be loaded 
into freight cars. They were all called *' cattle cars," and 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 45 

soldiers resented being treated as cattle. It was only bv ex- 
perience that they learned that freight cars were decidedly the 
most comfortable for men in their circumstances. In passen- 
ger cars, we rode two in a seat, all day, and once or twice 
nearly all night, with no chance to lie down or stretch our 
limbs. By some means, our rations were short. We had 
orders to take four days' cooked rations with us, but we had 
no haversacks to carry rations in, and the probability is that in 
our verdancy we packed them in our mess kettles, where we 
had no access to them. At Union City, Ind., we received 
haversacks, but they were painfully empty, and our stomachs 
soon became likewise. Part of the regiment was generously 
fed by the citizens at Pittsburg and other points, but that suf- 
ficed for but one meal only ; so when we arrived at our desti- 
nation we were about "done up." At the Soldiers' Rest,, 
near the Baltimore & Ohio depot at Washington, however, we 
found exactly what we needed. There w^ere a number of 
large tanks filled with clear water, in which we took a royal 
bath, and afterward were given an abundance of cooked food. 



CHAPTER IV. 

WASHINGTON. 

After some hours spent in and about the vSoldiers' Rest, 
the Twentv-seventh received orders to go into camp at Kohl- 
erama Heights, a series of commanding hills in what was 
then the northwestern suburbs of the city. The line of march 
was out New Jersey and Massachusetts avenues. But before 
starting out a goodly number of the boys, among whom was 
the writer, took "French leave" and went over to inspect 
the capitol. The ground was then open between tlie Balti- 
more & Ohio depot and the capitol grounds, though strewn 
thickly with blocks and chips of marble, the refuse of recent 
work on the building. 

It was no small thing for young men away from home 
for the first time in their lives, to hnd their shoe heels cracking 
the tasselated floors of one of the finest buildings in the world, 
within a month after starting out. The immense dimensions 
of the capitol, its long, pilastered corridors, its richly furnished 
rooms and halls, its rare and costly chandeliers, statuary and 
paintings, and the magic of its historical associations, were 
simply enchanting to us untraveled Hoosiers. A kindly gen- 
tleman, who had formerly lived in Indiana, cheerfully volun- 
teered to guide us through the great pile, calling our attention 
to all the points of interest, and explaining a multitude of 
things which we could not have understood otherwise. From 
the dome, the gentleman pointed out the white tents of the 
rebel out-post at ISIunson's Hill, Virginia. Lastly, he con- 
ducted us to the galleries of the House and Senate. From 
the gallery of the latter he pointed out the identical seats 
then recently vacated by prominent conspirators in the South, 
among others that of the arch-conspirator, Jefferson Davis, 
himself. 

Some of us became so absorbed in these wonders that we 
forgot ourselves and overstayed our time. When we returned, 
the regiment had gone. To overtake it was easy, but in reach- 
ing our places we had to pass the Lieutenant-colonel. "Where 
have you been ?" he sternly demanded. " Looking at the Capi- 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 



47 



tol," we innocently replied. "I'll capitol you, when we get 
to camp," he said. But he failed to take our names and if any 
one ever reported to him to be " Capitoled," whatever that 
was, it is not generally known. 

Kolilerama Heights was, in some respects, a grand place 
for a camp. The view was glorious, — commanding a long 
stretch of the Potomac river, with its multitude of white sails, 
and its steam transports and ferry boats, moving hither and 
thither ; also the long bridge, and a wide, interesting landscape, 
on both sides of the stream. Nearer bv, wherever one might 




Rldolii Reisen, Co. K, 
recent picture. 



\V. A. JrloSTETEU, Co. A. 
RECENT PORTRAIT. 



look , were the busy camps of many thousand soldiers. To look 
at these camps at night was if anything, more enspiriting than 
to see them in daylight. This part of the panorama that was 
on exhibition to every Twenty-seventh soldier, night after 
night, has been embalmed in Mrs. Howe's line. 

We have seen him in the watch-fires of a thousand circling camp?. 
Her Battle Hymn of the Republic was written at this precise 
period and after viewing these identical scenes. The writer 
never hears it recited or sung without the spell of those days 
taking possession of him. 



48 HISTORY OF THE 

Another vivid impression that the writer received at that 
time and has carried with him through all the years, is the 
peculiar, magnetic influence that the country's flag exercises 
over a person, who looks at it closely, while its wihte and red 
stripes and starry field of blue, ripple and quiver in a stiff 
breeze, or as its folds rise and fall in a more gentle one. It 
is surely a pleasant sensation to a patriot. Every hill top 
and plain in sight at this time had its flag. Some of them 
were very large, and could be seen for many miles. 

The camp nearest our own was that of the First Minne- 
sota. Its commander. Colonel Gorman, having formerly lived 
in Indiana, and been the colonel of an Indiana regiment in the 
Mexican war, it was easy for the two regiments to get ac- 
quainted. We liked them from the start, and it was never 
hard for us to believe that the First Minnesota had immortal- 
ized itself at Gettysburg. 

The weather was sublime during this period — that mild, 
smoky, dreamy, fall weather, known as Indian summer. The 
second day we were there we saw the balloon go up from head- 
quarters over in Virginia. This was for a long time a noted 
feature of the Army of the Potomac. 

But the wood at this camp was scarce and poor and the 
water was abominable. The wood was mostly green cedar 
and the water was a soft, blueish decoction which we found 
oozing out of the hillside, in appearance and taste strongly 
resembling soap suds. It was hard for us to believe sometimes 
that it was not soap suds. There came near being several fist 
fights in the regiment over some comrades accusing others of 
washing in the spring. A drink of it would not satisfy the 
thirst of those of us accustomed to using clear, hard water, 
any better than a drink of brine. 

One of the days at Kohlerama was Sunday. After inspec- 
tion the companies were marched to a pleasant spot and the 
Chaplain preached from the text " Behold an Israelite indeed 
in whom there is no guile," Jno. 1 : 47. It was the first time, 
and one of the few times, we ever attended divine service 
IVolois J^o/CHS. 

The next day we moved about two miles north and east, 
and pitched our camp in an abandoned field near Tenally- 
town. Why we moved nobody remembers. If it was to get 
better water, it was wise. We called that place Camp Col- 
grove. We remained there six days. While there we drew 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 49 

about cvcrytliin<r we still lacked, amoii<r thein two very prom- 
inent eciuipments of the infantry soldier, guns and knapsacks. 
The first is supposed to be adaptt d to killing an enemy, while 
the latter is an admirable contrivance for killing the soldier 
himself. In the ideal time, if it ever comes, when war and 
everything else is carried on according to common sense, a 
sold er will as soon be expected to wear a camp kettle for a 
he id covering a^ to carry a knapsack. ]?ut in the Civil war, 
paiticu'arly in the Eastern army, a man with a sixteen-shooter, 
a dead shot at a thousand yards and always on hand for duty, 
W'ould have been decided a worthless appendage without a 
knapsack. So we got them and a careful watch was maintained 
to make sure that we kept them and carried them. 

The guns, instead of being hauled to c imp, we went 
after ourselves — to the arsenal, at the extreme oppos te end of 
the city. Not getting them the first time, we went again. 
Each trip required about a day. It was not the only time 
in the war that mule muscle was spared at the expense of 
human muscle, but it enabled us to see quite a good deal of 
the city antl was a means of recreation, if not of enjoyment. 
We went each time in full force, with fiying colors, squeaking 
fifes and beating drums. We passed along the principal 
streets, directlv in front of the Capitol and near the White 
House, marching proudly to " Bung-de-addle-de " and "The 
Girl I Left Behind Me." 

We called the guns we drew here " Belgium i illes." They 
were evidently of some foreign manufacture. They were 
really }oung cannon, weighing fourteen pounds each, and six 
of their cartridges weighed one pound. They had spikes at 
the breech projecting upward on the inside. These, fitting 
into the hollow end of the ball, wedged it into the rifles. 
This improved their shooting qualities, but made them un- 
handy to keep clean, as the ball could not be drawn. They 
were all deadlv at the muzzle end, and some of them were 
next to deadly at both ends. Their kick was like the recoil 
of a cannon. 

Another thing we drew at this camp was horses and 
wagons. There were probably no more of them than other 
regiments received at that time, but the number would have 
been considered a joke, if not a stigma, a little later. Each 
company had two teams — one exclusively for the three com- 
missioned ofiicers. How manv more the r.^L'^inient had, " de- 



50 HISTORY OF THE 

ponent answereth not." Among the re>t, the Colonel had 
one four-horse team, all for his sole use and benefit. Two 
years later, in the Atlanta campaign, we were allowed just 
one wagon for the entire regiment. We remember the horses 
we drew here as being famous for legs. None of them could 
have been less than sixteen to seventeen hands high. Rather 
thin, loose-jointed and slab-sided, they did not last long. 
They were soon exchanged for mules, some of w hich we kept 
until we kft the Army of the Potomac. While we were in 
the vicinity of Washington we were supplied with bread 
baked at an extemporized bakery in the basement of the 
Capitol, which had a capacity of seventy-live tliousand loaves 
daily. 

Washington was not the city then that it is now, by any 
means. After leaving there we met Indiana troops who had 
not seen the city. One of them asked an acquaintance in our 
regiment how \Vashington looked. He replied, "It looks for 
all the world like old Leavenworth." This latter was an Indi- 
ana town with which both were acquainted. Originally it 
was scattered on long, muddy streets, with few tasteful, sub- 
stantial improvements. But the streams of commerce had 
long since been i.iverted from it, and everything about it had 
fallen into hideous dilapidation. It was not a bad comparison 
to say Washington was like it. 

On Sundav, September 20, orders were received to start 
at 9 A. M. Monday and join General Banks' division near 
Darnestown, Maryland, twenty-tive miles up the Potomac. 
But the Colonel probably remembered the usual fondness of 
young men for a Sunday evening w'alk, so we started at once. 
We marched four or five miles and went into camp. That is, 
the Colonel, mounted officers and a few others of the more 
hardy or more ambitious ones, did. The greater part were 
scattered along the road side, like a peddler's effects after a 
runawav. It was the knapsacks. If the Colonel had waited 
until next morning ami made a full day's march before camp- 
ing he would probablv have lost many of his men for good; 
as it was, they all worried along and managed to reach camp 
sometime before morning. Very few in the regiment had 
been used to much walking and to start out with a pack mule's 
burden, carried at about the worst possible ilisadvantage, was 
too much. 

The next day some knapsacks were hauled in the wagons, 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 



51 



others were relieved largely oF their contents, and we got 
along better. We marched about lifteen miles, passing 
through the town of Rockville, and rather a pretty, though 
to us, odd looking country. It hardly seemed that we could 
be in the United States, The prevalent styles of architecture, 
the mode of farming, the common implements of husbandry, 
the dress, speech and customs of the people were all widely 
different from what we had been accustomed to. Money 
values were all designated by the old denominations as " shil- 
ling," "bit," "sixpence," etc. ^Vhen our boys oflFered a 
*' quarter'' or a " dime '' for this or that, they were asked to 
explain what they meant. A two-horse team, hitched to a 
four-wheeled wagon was a sight not vouchsafed to our hungrv 




FiKST Notions ok Aumv Like. 



eyes. There was an abundance of two-wheeled carts with 
one horse or two oxen attached and all four-wheeled vehicles 
had from three to five animals drawing them. The beds of 
these, moreover, were a sight to behold, resembling somewhat 
the " prairie schooners " known to our far western frontier 
life. 

We found those giant public pumps, so common through 
Maryland, a great convenience. There was one on almost 



52 IIISTOUV OK THE 

every corner in towns and villages and they are of ten provided 
at convenient points along public roads. The pump itself 
usually stands about ten feet above ground, is often made of 
the body of a large-sized white oak, with the bark on, and 
they have long iron handles, curving up at the lower entl and 
terminating with an iron ball. Attached to the pump by a 
chain was an iron dipper, beat out by a blacksmith. In the 
heat and dust of marching, it is a great luxury to have plenty 
of cool, fresh water. 

The third day, we had but a few miles to go. As w^e 
neareJ Darnestown we met the troops of General Banks' com- 
mand going out on review. Among them w'ere the Tw^elfth 
and Sixteenth Indiana regiments, one-year men. In them 
were a number of the friends of members of our regiment and 
for a time we were considerably mixed up in the road, 
exchanging greetings. The conduct of neither of the regi- 
ments concerned was exactly in the best military form but 
was perhaps excusable under the circumstances. The Twenty- 
seventh soon became disengaged from the others and moving 
on through the hamlet, went into camp. where it was to experi- 
ence another stage of army life. 



CHAPTER V. 



CAMP HAMILTON AND COON ROD'S FERRY. 

At Darnestown, the Twenty-seventh was assigned to the 
Second Brigade of Banks' division, Gen. Charles S. Hamil- 
ton, commanding. The camp was named Camp Hamilton. 
The other regiments in the brigade were the Third Wisconsin, 
Twenty-ninth Pennsylvania and Ninth New York Militia. 
The two latter, being composed of city-bred men, were in 
striking contrast with the Twenty-seventh, but that did not 
seem to make the least difl'erence. They were courteous, gen- 
tlemanly men, and fraternized with us without friction from 
the start, and when they were transferred to other relations 
later on, we parted company with deep, mutual regrets. We 
did not come into close touch with the Third Wisconsin for 
some time, their location not being near ours. When the two 
regiments were thrown together, it seemed as natural for 
them to affiliate as if they had been from the same state. 
They remained in the same relation until the Twenty- 
seventh ceased to be. The histories of the two, from 
this time until the fall of Atlanta, are practically identical. 
No one who has not had a similar experience can compre- 
hend the strength of the attachment which, under such cir- 
cumstances, one regiment comes to have for the brave, faith- 
ful and companionable men of another — like the Third Wis- 
consin. 

Camp Hamilton had some hard things in store for us. 
We were only there two weeks, but if the calendar was not 
against us it would be impossible to convince any of us 
that we were not there two months, at least. Most new regi- 
ments strike some camp where duty seems tremendously rig- 
orous, comforts of all kinds unknown, necessary supplies scant 
and poor, and where, on these accounts and others, sickness 
of various kinds, despondency and insubordination run riot. 
This was such a camp for the Twentv-seventh, We spent 
six hours each day in drill. And it was drill! No foolish- 
ness, now. Two hours, in the hottest part of the day, was 
battalion drill, in full uniform, with full knapsacks. The 



54 HISTORY OF THE 

knapsacks were inspected, to make sure that nothing was left 
out of them. The drill ground was rough and covered with 
coarse weeds and briars, an unclouded sun poured down his 
glistening, sickening rays, and there was no intermission for 
rest or water. We got very tired, our shoulders ached dread- 
fully, the sweat gathered on our faces and ran down into our 
eyes, while thoughts came into our minds, and even words to 
our lips, which would not look at all well in print. Besides 
the drills, we had guard duty, police duty and roll calls ad 
injitiiiuin, ad nauseam. If every man among us had been a 
convicted felon, the cordon of guards around the camp, both 
day and night, could not have been more strenuously main- 
tained. In addition to that, there were guards stationed at 
almost all imaginable points, from the commissary stores to 
the spring, and from the colonel's tent to the regimental sink. 
In short, from the highest to the lowest, we found ourselves 
in the iron grasp of stern, unrelenting military rules, and an 
abundance of them — it seemed to us a superabundance of 
them. 

But if there was an excess of some things there was a 
shortage of others. The rations issued made no pretense of 
being more than the commonest of army fare. There were 
no fruits, vegetables, or extras of any kind. Very little that 
we did get was good of its kind, or in proper quantity. 

It must be that a rascally commissary department takes 
occasion, on the advent of each new regiment, to square up its 
shortages and get rid of its accumulation of nastiness. It is 
so easy to scout at new men and ridicule them for their daint- 
iness, if they complain. Unquestionably the Twenty-seventh 
drew fatter, worse tainted " sow belly;" rustier, more unpal- 
atable bacon ; older, wormier hardtack ; cofiPee with a larger 
proportion of beans in it, and blacker, sandier sugar dur- 
ing our two weeks at Camp Hamilton, than during all the 
balance of our service. In fact, we never knew of any such 
supplies being issued to anybody anywhere after that. Most 
of the pork, whether pickled or smoked, was from hogs of 
enormous size, plenty of the side meat being fully six inches 
thick — coarse, oily and repulsive, if in good condition, which 
it was not. Nearly every bit of it was more or less soured. The 
hardtack was as large as a breakfast plate, and the boys stoutly 
affirmed that it had been kept over from the Mexican war. 
It was stale and musty, and some of it was alive with vermin. 



TWEXTY-SEV'ENTH IN DIANA. 55 

But a good deal of the turn we drew lV)ur, in place of 
hardtack. All that \vc could do wilh that, most of the time, 
was to make a batter of it with water and fry this in the 
grease obtained from the ill-smelling pork. These we called 
"flap jacks." It is doubtful whether any other civilized man 
ever really prepared food for himself as monstrously unpalatable 
and unwholesome as these were. They differed from the cel- 
ebrated Dr. Mussy's fried cakes, however. He was once lect- 
uring to a class of students, in Cincinnati, on diet. One of 
them interrupted him to inquire about fried cakes, a popular 
article of food at the boarding house just then. The doctor 
had a slight impediment of speech, but, after some effort, he 
said, with more force than elegance, '• F — f — ried cakes are 
sometimes mercifully allowed to go through a man." Our 
"flap jacks" went through in a hurry. At no other time was 
the Twenty-seventh much troubled with camp diarrhoea, one 
of the worst scourges of armies. At Camp Hamilton we soon 
had a mammoth, double-pavilion, consolidattd circus of it. 
The busy, thronging scenes around the regimental sink, as we 
all recall them, would be very amusing if they had not really 
been so serious. 

We drew some fresh beef here, which was always good, 
because it came to the regiment on the hoof and was killed 
and dressed by our own experienced butchers, of whom we 
had a number. The only trouble with it was, it would not 
seem to go far enough. T'he best we could do a das 's rations 
would only suffice for one square meal. However, we stewed 
rice with the beef, and between the broth, rice and beef the 
('ays we had that ration were the only ones in that camp that 
we do not recall with a shudder, when thinking of what we 
had to eat. Two articles that were issued here and at once 
thrown away as worthless, we came to think more of when we 
learned how to cook them. One was salt or ''corned" 
beef, and the other was "• dedicated vegetables." The beef 
was evidently not the best of its kind. We called it "' salt 
horse." In its texture it looked more as if cut from a horse than 
an ox; still, when we learned how long to boil it we found it 
could be eaten and would sustain life. The ariicle known as 
" desicated vegetables ' ' was a compound of almost all varieties 
of vegetables : potatoes, cabbage, turnips, parsnips, carrots, 
etc., dried and pressed into cakes. The swelling piopensities 
of a piece of this conglomeration has been a matter of amaze- 



56 



HISTORY OF THE 



.inent as well as amusement, from the time of the war until 
now\ Wlien used as a seasoning or to thicken a soup moder- 
ately, most of us learned to like it and rather prized it later on. 
At Camp Hamilton we cast it out as worthless. The boys 
^called it "consecrated vegetables."' 

In an effort to get away irom " flap-jacks" and hardtack, 
kept over from the Mexican war, the bricklayers of the regi- 
ment, under the directions of the bakers, built ovens for baking 
bread. The results w'ere not the most satisfactory, but the 
bread liaked was better than either of the other articles. 




Maj. J. J. Johnson. 

FIRST SURGEON TWENTY 
SEVENTH IND. VOLS. 



Capt. Wm. E. Davis, Co. B. 
taken soon .\1ter war. 



No experienced soldier will be surprised to learn that we 
had a violent and sweeping epidemic of homesickness at Camp 
Hamilton. Besides the conditions above mentioned, we had 
been away from home about the right time lor this to super- 
vene. There was more of it here and it was much more ac- 
cute in form than at anv other time. There were cases that 
eventually resulted in death. IManv others were so homesick 
as to lose temporarily, not only all hope, but all pride and 
ambition. Some had to be forced to wash their clothing and 
persons. A few. wlio before had been ratiier high spirited, 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 57 

mettlesome young men, had to be taken to the lirook by ^ 
detail and scrubbed like sheep at shearing time. It is to be 
doubted whether any one of us would like to confess fully 
just what his state of mind was and what he thought of vari- 
ous matters, much less all that he said, at that time. 

Our officers, with a few notable exceptions, acted a 
manly, judicious part at this trying period. As a rule they 
were older than the men, and of course more experienced. 
Their food being more plentiful and wholesome, and their 
quarters more cheerful, they were in a position to buoy up 
and bear with those under them. Those who were then kind 
and somewliat indulgent will never be forgotten for it — 
neither will the others, for that matter. 

At least a few survivors will recall the incident that 
transpired here, of the guard at the commissary being for- 
gotten and left to stand all night, without being relieved. 
He made no out-cry. and only remarked, when found next 
morning, that " the relief seemed a little slow a-comin'." It 
would probably not be proper to say that this was a fair 
sample of the c[uiet, uncomplaining devotion to duty of the 
men of the Twenty-seventh at this time. 

The manner of our getting out of Camp Hamilton, as 
well as the fact that we got out as soon as we did, was for- 
tunate for us, though involving dire misfortune to others. 
We were called out suddenly, under very exciting circum- 
stances. An order was read at dress parade one evening, 
directing that we be prepared to move the following morning. 
Rumors of aggressive warfare and even of bloodshed, were 
rife. Some neighboring regiments had broken camp within 
a day or two and gone away somewhere. An unusual 
amount of travel seemed to have started up on the road pass- 
ing in sight of our camp. There were, especially, an unusual 
number of orderlies and other mounted men, galloping one 
way or another. Just before dark, when rumors were becom- 
ing thicker and more definite, an order came for us to start 
forthwith and make a forced march that night. The long- 
roll was beaten, and the regimental and company officers 
shouted, in tones heavily charged with feeling, to strike 
tents, get ready to go, and be quick about it ! 

The effect was electrical. It sent the blood with a whirl 
to our very finger tips. Men went wikl. They cheered, 
screamed, shook hands and hugged each other, as if they had 



58 HISTOUY OF THE 

siuUk'iilv lost their mentiil balance. An oiVicer remarked upon 
the great change that was observeable in the regiment. 
" Why," said Captain Wellman, "it is no wonder I these men 
have come a thousand miles to fight the rebels, and now they 
have a prospect o' doing it/' Consequently, scores of men 
were not only willing but really able to go, who. an hour 
before, could not have marched a mile. 

It is surprising how quickly a regiment can pack up its 
effects, take down its tents, arrange things for loading, store 
them in the wagons and be ready to start. We were only 
novices in the work at this time, but as this was was our first 
experience of starting on short n tice, the matter may as well 
be mentioned here. Old soldiers come to be not only expert 
about such things, but very much so in detecting and inter- 
preting the signs which precede them. Some peculiarity 
about a courier riding into camp, the manner in which the 
colonel calls the adjutant after receiving a dispatch, the 
movement of the adjutant or the colonel's orderly, as he goes 
to the quarters of the man who beats the calls, any one of a 
dozen things, will often forewarn one who has often been 
over the ground, of what is coming. 

In the Twenty-seventh it was common to beat the long 
roll when the regiment was required to move quickly. Some- 
times the adjutant simply stood in front of his tent and gave 
verbal orders to strike tents and frepare to fall in. At other 
times, he passed swiftly from the tent of one company com- 
mander to another and communicated the orders to them. 
Whether one of these methods was pursued or another, the 
eflfect was the same. Every man not on duty at once sprang 
to the work of shaking out his blankets, gathering his eflPects 
and packing his knapsack. Of course, such an order catches 
many away from their own tents, in some other part of the camp, 
or at some distance outside of it. These men can be seen run- 
ning swiftly to their own quarters, like people in a small 
town or village" respond to the call of " Fire." 

The first member of a mess to get his individual 
traps packed seizes an ax and starts around the tent, 
giving each stake a few licks side-wise, to loosen it. 
Others follow him, pull up the stakes and toss them 
to some convenient point. As the last stakes come 
up, the tent is laid upon the ground, neatly folded in layers, 
and rolled in a compact bundle. The stakes, and sometimes 



TWEVTV SEXENTII INDIANA. 59 

the poles, are rolled inside and the guy ropes serve to tie the 
bundle fast. Meanwhile, tlie company teamster has hooked 
up and driven to some accessible point, usually one end or the 
other of the company street. There each mess carries its tent, 
cooking utensils, axes, shovels, picks, or whatever company 
property it may have in charge. If there is time, most of the 
company assist in the loading, under the directions of the com- 
missary sergeant, and "' many hands make light work."" If 
orders to start are very urgent, a small detail is sometimes 
made to load the wagon and then follow on after the column. 
Sometimes the work is k f t v\ holly for the sergeant and 
teamster. 

A camp of many conveniences was thus disnumtled 
and abandoned in a very few minutes. 

As might be imagined, many articles of some value 
were voluntarily left behind. For this reason a swarm 
of citizens, a mixed multitude of men, women and children, 
white and colored, usually appeared when a camp was being 
abandoned, to pick up whatever they could see. The 
whites, living near, were not commonly in favor with 
Union soldiers. So many of them were in sympathy 
with the rebellion, that all of them were suspected 
of it. When a white person or family was known to 
be really on our side, soldiers were often lavish in the bestow- 
ment of articles that could not be taken along. Rather than 
let anything fall into the hands of a known rebel sympathizer, 
it was usually mutilated or destroyed. Overcoats or other 
clotliing, or blankets, were cut or torn, and provisions were 
in some way rendered unfit for use. After the regiment was 
ready to start, and was awaiting orders to fall in, it frequently 
happened that some one set fire to the straw or leaves which 
had been used for bedding, and in the blaze thus started, these 
cast off articles were thrown, to be entirely consumed. 

At the time now under consideration, there was no delay 
in starting. Our destination was Coonrods Ferry, the move 
being in connection with the disaster at Balls Bluff. It was 
just dark when we fell in, and moved briskly away from the 
spot for which we have no very kindly recollections. The 
wagons, and the men not well enough to march, were left be- 
hind, to come on by daylight. 

This much only was known : there had been fighting and 
we were needed. With some delays, the longest being at Pools- 



CO HISTORY OF THE 

ville, we reached Coonrads Ferry slightly before dayligiit, six- 
teen or seventeen miles. There was no straggling and little 
sign of weariness. 

At Poolsville we met men who had been in the battle and 
heard many of the ghastly particulars. Doubtless some of our 
informants we're stragglers and shirks, and the stories they 
told were greatly exaggerated ; but, in the main, the facts we 
gathered were the same as history still relates in connection 
Avith that ill timed battle. A few of the dead and wounded 
had been brought to Poolsyille. Among the former was the 
body of Colonel Baker. It brought the shocking realities of 
war home to us in a way that had not been done before, but 
the effect seemed to be of the nature of an additional stimulant, 
making the men mote eager than eyer to go forward. 

Just before we arrived at the riyer, a drizzling rain set in. 
All day there was a leaky sky. The battle was hopelessly 
oyer. All our men had been killed, captured or driven 
into the river, before we had started from camp. All the 
boats capable of carrying more than three or four men each 
had been sunk. So there was nothing for us to do but wait 
on the river bank, in the rain. The troops there before us were 
engaged in ferrying across, in small boats, the remnant 
of Colonel Baker's command which had succeeded in 
reaching the island in the river. A few dead and quite 
a number of wounded, were thus brought over. Xo signs 
of an enemy were visible to us, though we must have 
been in plain view to some of them, and in long riile range. 
Later in the war, they would doubtless have given us 
something more to think about. It seems incredible, but, 
under orders from those in command, we actually tried to 
drag an unwieldy scow from the canal into the river, with a 
view of crossing over. There was not a point along the whole 
line of the insurgent states, from Virginia to Texas, where an 
attack by the Union Army would have been more insane. To 
cross any considerable number of men over those raging waters, 
with the means at hand, and provision them after they were 
over, would have been a sheer impossibility, without an enemy 
in the case. 

That night, the Twenty-seventh was deployed in squads 
along the river. Some stood picket and the balance slept 
what they could, with only extemporized shelter. The next 
day we moved farther away from the river, back upon the 



TWKN'TV-SE\ENTn INDIANA. 61 

bluffs, and spent anotlicr ni^lit witliout tcnt^. It had quit 
raining, but turned colder. We helped ourselves liberally tO' 
straw, found in the vicinity. Most of the men made them- 
selves shelter by leaning rails up against something and cover- 
ing them with straw. In the morning (the third since our 
arrival at the river) our wagons came up and we pitched 
tents in an open field on elevated ground. There was a high» 
cold wind blowing which, in our exposed position, had a fair 
chance at us. From camp we could see Leesburg with 
the naked eye. With field glasses we could see the rebel 
soldiers in its streets. Notwithstanding that it was the 28d 
of October, and so cold, a corn field adjoining camp afibrded 
an abundance of excellent roasting ears. 

In the morning of this day Henry McCaslin. of Com- 
pany H, lost his life, at the hands of one of his own 
company. The responsibility for the distressing mishao 
rested between the officers in charge and McCaslin him- 
self. The one who did the shooting could not be blamed. 
The company was on picket along the river. Opposite 
where it was stationed, there was a long island. The 
pickets were definitely instructed that we had no soldiers on 
the island ; that if any were there they were rebels. But in 
the morning it was reported to the authorities that men had 
been seen over there, and it was decided to send some of our 
men over, to reconnoiter. These men crossed over at the 
upper end of the island, and the pickets opposite the lower 
end, where the fatal shooting occurred, were not notified of 
it. Comrade McCaslin was of the party crossing over. In 
scouting around, he finally reached the lower end of the 
island, where he came out so this picket could see him, but 
not plain enough to recognize him personally, or distinguish 
his uniform. He was also so unfortunate as to make some 
motions which the picket interpreted as making ready to 
shoot. The picket therefore quickly dropped down upon one 
knee and, resting the elbow of the arm which held the gun 
upon the other knee, sent a ball squarely through McCas- 
lin's body. Death was instantaneous. When the picket was 
advised of what he had done it almost dethroned his reason. 
But the incident only showed that he had some of the elements 
of a first-class soldier. He could remember his orders and he 
was a crack shot. The distance was not less than four hun- 
dred yards. 



62 



HISrORV OI-- THE 



'J'he evening of the 24th, after spending one night in our 
tents, we broke camp hastily, under urgent orders, and marched 
away, after burning our straw and destroying other conven- 
iences. ^\'e went about a mile at a brisk rate, then halted 
in the road for a few minutes; then about-faced and marched 
leisurely back to llie spot from which we had set out. There 
we had orders to pitch tents again. There had been an alarm 
at another ferry, four miles below, but the order for us to go 
there had been countermanded. 




An Akmv \\'a(;()n Tkain. 

On the 2()th, Banks' division returned to Darnestown. 
The return march was leisurely and uneventful, only 
we had our first sight of a long army supply train. The 
country was rather level and open, and an immense numlier 
of army wagons, with their white covers, could be seen 
stretching for many miles, one following close upon anotlier, 
in all the turns and windings of a somewhat crooked road. 
There must have been more than a hundred of them, marked 
"General Banks' Ileadcjuarters.'" There was some specula- 



TWENTY SEN'KNTH INDIANA. G3 

tion amon^ us at the time as to whetlier it required them all 
to transport the General's personal effects and those of his 
military family. If it did, the monstrous nonsense of it was 
not greater than much else that prevailed in those first months 
of the war. 

We were pleased when we found that we were not going 
in to our old camp again, and were not going to be very near 
it. Though the weather was cooler now, and other things 
were to be more satisfactory, the associations of the place 
were bad. We turned off towards the Potomac river instead. 

" The generals commanded and armies obeyed, 
No battles were won till he came to their aid; 
For he drew not his own, but Grand Army rations, 
And his traces were hooked to th' fate of the nations." 



CHAPTER VI. 

CAMP jOE HOLT OR MUDDY IJRAXCH. 

Our first stop was in a grassy, abandoned field, bordering 
a small stream, flowing musically over a stony bottom, appro- 
priately called Clear creek. Its steep high banks were a 
tangled mass of the evergreen laurel. This seemed an ideal 
site for a camp, but we remained there only one night. 
In the afternoon we had orders to move still farther towards 
the Potomac. At this latter place, our first location was in an 
oak woods. While we were establishing our camp, arranging 
for proper company distances and putting up tents, it tran- 
spired that another regimen", occupying adjoining ground, 
claimed the s]">ace necessary for our left company and proposed 
to hoUl it, whether or no. When argument and expostulation 
availed nothing, a part of the Twenty-seventh was put under 
arms. That cjuickly decided the matter in our favor — they 
did not care to dispute the question with us in that way. 

This camp was all right until after the first rain, when it 
was soon several inches deep in mud. The ground having 
never been plowed, the more it was tramped the deeper and 
nastier the mud became. Hence another move was unavoid- 
able. The distance was not over two or three hundred yards. 
We transferred our belongings without regard to order. Here 
we were on the bank of another creek called Muddy Branch. 

In establishing ourselves this time a new feature was 
introduced with reference to our sleeping arrangements. 
Instead of straw, which could not be had, or dry leaves, which 
we had heretofore used as a substitute for straw, we were 
ordered to use pine or cedar boughs. Thev seemed coarse and 
hard at first, but afterwards came to be a regular standby. 
There was no more familiar sight, later on, than that of a 
soldier, with his rubber blanket, gathering boughs for his bed. 

Our medical authorities strongly advised also that we 
raise our beds up ofT the ground on platforms of small poles. 
This we were not then soldiers enougii to do. When we came 
to know more of our high calling, we uniformly did this from 



T\VKNTV-SE\T.NTH INDIANA. 05 

our own clToice, when there \^a^ any prospect of perma- 
nency in a camp. 

Hoth of these locations went by a common name, Camp 
Joe Holt. In the familiar parlance of the regiment they are 
frequently called Camp Muddy Branch. In the two we 
remained over five weeks. Notwithstanding a good many 
discomforts and disagreeable features, most of the men doubt- 
less have more or less pleasant recollections of our stay at this 
place. It was an out-of-way, lonesome locality, not only 
removed from any town or village, but from all public roads, 
and all sights and sounds of the busy world, as well. The 
whole time we were there, not only the toot and roar of rail- 
road trains were entirely unknown, but not as much as an 
army mule-team or an ambulance wagon, not connected with 
our own regiment, passed in sight. There was also consider- 
able sickness among us, and those who w-ere at all able were 
again drilled without stint. We had a regular hand-to-hand 
tussle with the measles and with the measly drill masters. 

Of all liabilities in the army, measles may be set down as 
among the worst. The soldier who has not had the genuine 
and only right kind, and had it out and out, previous to his 
enlistment, is to be commiserated. He is more apt to die 
from that cause than to be killed in battle. Different mem- 
bers of the regiment took the measles about the time the Balls 
Bluff move was made. The bad weather and exposure inci- 
dent to that move were at exactly the wrong time for them. 
Several splendid boys died at once and others lingered along 
until carried off by pneumonia. Many others were taken with 
the disease after we arrived at Camp Joe Holt. 

We had thought we were doing the subject of drill at 
least full justice, before this, if not overdoing it. But when 
we arrived here the authorities, somewhere above us, seemed 
suddenly to awake to the fact that the Twenty-seventh ought 
to be drilled. A swarm of sergeants from the other regi- 
ments, slightly older than ours, appeared in camp under 
detail to drill us. Neither officers nor men took over-kindly 
to this. In some of the companies the sergeants came and 
assisted for awhile, but in others there was no use made of 
them. By far the best step that was taken was the organiza- 
tion of a school of instruction for the officers of the regiment. 
Then, as fast as they learned, they taught the men. All that 
the Twenty-seventh ever lacked was more of that same medi- 



66 HISTORY OV THE 

cine, in more heroic doses. Xo command in an army can rise 
much above its officers in anythinjr. Therefore, an officer 
wlio does not tlioroughly understand the duties of iiis position 
should study day and night until he does so understand them, 
or leave the service, ^\'ithout the least prejudice or ill will, it 
may be truthfully said that the original officers of the 
Twenty seventh largely came short in this respect. The same 
seems to have been true quite generally in the Civil war of 
officers appointed directly from civil life, without previous 
experience. A large proportion of them never became any- 
thing more than clever blunderers. 

The question of finding the right kind of officers for the 
patriotic young men who are always ready to respond to the 
call of country, in an emergency such as this, is an old one, 
not likely ever to be settled to the satisfaction of all. In the 
Civil war those regiments which had colonels or lieutenant- 
colonels, or both, who had been educated at West Point and 
afterward had had sufficient experience in civil life to broaden 
them out somewhat and develop in them sympathy for men 
and practical common sense in meeting the requirements of 
unusual situations, as a rule, made the best all-around military 
organizations. To this, however, there were exceptions. 
While those West Pointers who had recently been graduated, 
or had had no experience outside of army life, were often so 
bigoted, overbearing and unjust as to be unfit for anything 
except to be shot, some such as these were greatly improved 
by the furnace heat of actual war. The only otTicers who, as 
a class, were worthless at the start and never improved after- 
ward, were those who imagined that they already knew 
enough and did not try to learn any more. At the head of 
this list were those who had been trained in the militia of 
some of the states or in the standing army of some foreign 
country. Many of the disasters of the war, as well as 
most of its petty blunders and wrongs, can be traced directly 
to one or the other of these sources. 

The writer's answer to the question, '' Where shall offi- 
cers be found for our volunteer soldiers ? '' is : A] point them 
from civil life — from men living in the same communities 
where the rank and tile have lived, and where both expect to 
live again when their term of service expires ; hold them to 
the same strict accountability for the way they spend their 
time and the quality of service they render that is expected 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 67 

from men of all ranks in the army; make them feel that 
they must learn to do their work thoroughly and faithfully or 
get out of the way and give somebody else a chance; do not 
appoint drill masters for the men or allow the officers to 
appoint them ; above all, do not allow the officers to hire drill 
masters for the men ; let promotions mainly follow the order 
of rank, always filling higher stations from those below ; no 
favoritism on account of political influence, wealth or parent- 
age. These rules are practicable, and there never has been a 
case, where they were even measurably followed, that the 
results did not justify them. 

All in all, these weeks at Camp Joe Holt witnessed decided 
progress in the Twenty-seventh. We not only became more 
proficient in the technical duties of soldiers, the manual of 
arms, the ability to keep step, to march in line, to wheel and 
change positions and formations, but we seemed also to catch 
on to those wider and even more essential duties, viz., a ready 
and cheerful obedience to rightful authority; an apprehension 
of our own individual spheres of action and a laudable pride 
and ambition in trying to be faithful and exact in all things. 
We came to understand" that a soldier in an army, whatever his 
rank or station, is simply one wheel, or maybe only a cog, in 
ii great piece of machinery, and for the whole to be perfect, 
means that every one must do his whole duty. It was at this 
time that we first became imbued with that invisible some- 
thing, called the military spirit, which once in a man never 
leaves him until he is ready for his coffin. It causes him to 
stand erect, to throw his shoulders back and his chest forward. 
It imparts a certain well-defined character to his walk. It 
make-i him at home in a camp. It enables him to laugh at 
■discomforts and to find enjoyment within very circumscribed 
limits. Most, if not all, will doubtless agree that from this 
time dates the development of the Twenty-seventh into a 
regiment of volunteer soldiers. Before that we were not 
really ready for active service ; after that we were. 

As at this camp we also first came to understand such 
terms as Officer of the Day, Grand Rounds, Inspection and 
Muster for Pay, they should perhaps be mentioned in this 
connection. 

The ofiicer of the day is a commissioned officer, detailed 
to have a general oversight of the camp. He is especially in 
command of the guards and pickets, and sees that the rules of 



G8 HISTORY OF THE 

the camp are generally observed. He reports everything out 
of the wav to the commanding officer. If he is regimental 
officer of the day his duties pertain to the regiment only. If 
brigade or division officer of the day his duties are wider in 
proportion. In the latter case, a major or lieutenant-colonel 
is commonly detailed. The same person acts for but one day. 
The officer of the day loops his sash over his shoulder, passing 
it across his breast from right to left and wraps it around his 
waist. By that insignia everybody understands what his 
position is. 

As the officer of the day passes around on his duties, he is 
entitled to special attention, particularly from all guards and 
pickets. Any such, on his approach, must stand at "attention," 
and when he passes, must salute him. When he approaches 
the reserve guards or pickets, the nearest one on post must 
give notice to those not on post by shouting "Turn out 
the guards, the officer of the day." At this they fall in line 
and stand at " attention," until he is near, when they present 
arms. The officer of the day, accompanied by the officer of 
the guard, or sergeant of the guard, must make at least one 
trip around the camp and along the guard or picket line during 
the night. When discharging that duty he is styled "Grand 
Rounds." It is even more important to be wide awake and 
receive the grand rounds properly than the officer of the day. 
Woe to the poor unfortunate whom the grand rounds finds 
asleep, or seriously direlect in anything : he is sure to be put in 
the guard-house and perhaps courtmartialed and punished, or at 
the least, made to do extra duty. For these reasons the officer 
of the day or grand rounds is a terror to inexperienced soldiers. 
This often makes it still harder for them to receive him prop- 
erly. Many ludicrous blunders are made. Inexperienced 
officers, in command of guards and pickets, if any dilTerence, 
make more mistakes than the men. They often give the 
command to present arms when the men are facing the wrong 
way or standing at an order arms. Soldiers also often blun- 
der and stammer and finally get out the wrong words, owing 
to the embarrassment they feel. 

Our instructions when on duty were, if we heard or saw 
any one coming, to say, "Who comes there?" If answered, 
" Grand Rounds," we said "Halt, Grand Rounds! advance 
Sergeant, and give the countersign." We took the counter- 
sign from the sergeant over the point of the bayonet, and if 



TWENTV-SEVENTII INDIANA. GO 

riglit we said " Correct, advance, Grand Hounds." One night 
in particular, at Camp Joe Holt, wlien a large relief was 
brought in, they were lectured severely, and told that only one 
of them all used the right words, in the right order. But the 
blundering was not always confined to those on post. One 
night while in this camp an Irish sentinel, when he gave the 
challenge, " Who comes there?" was answered " Officer of the 
day." Qiiick as wink he replied, " To h-1 with your officer 
of the day I its high time the officer of the night was getting 
around." 

Inspections were held to see that the soldiers had the nec- 
essary arms, equipments and clothing, and that these and the 
tents and grounds were kept clean and orderly. Company 
inspections were conducted by the company officers, general 
inspections by regimental or brigade commanders, or those ap- 
pointed bv them. Company inspections were, as a rule, held 
everv vSunday morning. Sometimes they were omitted when 
on the march, but not always. Notice was usually given at 
morning roll call that there w^ould be company inspection at 
a certain hour. Then followed a busy season of scouring, 
sweeping, dusting, blacking, shaving, washing, etc., etc. In 
this, guns, cartridge boxes, belts, clothing, shoes and persons, 
as well as tents and grounds, all received attention. At the 
appointed time the orderly sergeant formed the company in 
two ranks, brought it to a present arms and turned the com- 
mand over to the captain. 

If it was to be company inspection the captain 
proceeded with it at once. By the proper commands 
he placed the company in two lines, four paces apart, 
facing toward each other, with all the ramrods inside the gun 
barrels. He then started at the head of one line, passed down 
it aiid up the other. Each soldier, as the captain approached, 
held his gun up in such a position that the captain could easily 
see it and as easily take it. The captain generally took each 
gun. He first shook it up and down, so as to rattle the ram- 
rod in the barrel. By the sound it made he could judge as to 
whether the inside of the barrel was clean or not. If not sat- 
isfied with this test he rubbed the ramrod up and down in the 
barrel, then took it out and examined it carefully for any 
signs of rust or dirt. He next looked the gun over on the out- 
side and critically observed the appearance of the soldier him- 
self, from his shoes to his cap. Then tossing the gun back, in 



70 HISTORY OF THE 

a manner calculated to knock the soldier down if not on his 
guard, he passed to the next. When necessary, questions 
were asked and explanations and excuses (very brief ones) 
were heard. In inspecting the cartridge boxes the captain 
passed behind eacli line. They were unbuckled before he 
began and as he passed the flaps were raised so he could note 
whether each article was there that should be and whether the 
soldier had the requisite number of cartridges. 

If the inspection was to include knapsacks, it was so 
stated when the order was given to prepare for it. In that 
case, the men had their knapsacks on when they fell in line. 
After the arms were inspected they were stacked and the cap- 
tain proceeded to inspect the knapsacks. Each soldier unslung 
his knapsack, at the command, and placed it on the ground 
before him, open. The captain then passed along and exam- 
ined the contents of each one separately, often stooping down 
to unroll the different articles to make sure that they were all 
there and in proper condition. At the conclusion of the 
inspection, if there was to be Divine service that day, the 
company was marched without arms to the appointed place 
for it, or else the announcement of the service was made and 
the company was dismissed. 

Just before or just after the inspection of arms and knap- 
sacks the captain made a circuit of the company quarters, to 
see that the tents and grounds were clean and orderly. Delin- 
quents at inspections were sometimes given an opportunity to 
make good their deficiencies, and sometimes punished, often 
both. As our service lengthened these inspections became 
more and more rigid. They were seen to be more and more 
important. At home cleanliness is next to Godliness. In the 
army, if Godliness is sometimes neglected, cleanliness never 
should be. 

General inspections were not so called because a general 
conducted them. They w^ere often ordered by a general, and 
sometimes conducted by one, more frequently by a member of 
his staff. The name was probably given because of the wide 
range the inspection was to take. It meant that everybody 
and everything in the command was to be inspected. General 
inspections were conducted substantially the same as company 
inspections. 

While at Camp Joe Holt there was an order from Gen- 
eral Hamilton for a general inspection. As we had never 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 71 

seen one we were curious to know wli;it it would consist of. 
After a great cleaning up the regiment was formed in line and 
stood quite awhile, waiting for something. All, except per- 
haps a few on the right wing, supposed we were waiting for 
General Hamilton. We were expecting to see him come 
dashing into camp, mounted and in full-dress uniform, fol- 
lowed by staft" and orderlies. At length our attention was 
attracted by somebody coming slowly down the line from the 
right, on foot. As he came nearer we saw it was the General 
himself. Nobody was with him but our Colonel, and pos- 
sibly one member of the General's staff. He was walking 
quite close to the line, nosing along, as if looking for some- 
thing or somebody that was lost. He doubtless knew for 
himself about the Twenty-seventh after that. 

Muster for pay was attended to regularly the first day of 
every month. It w'as seldom postponed ; never unless engaged 
in battle or likely to be, or unless the muster-rolls were not 
accessible. Muster for pay consists simply in assembling 
each company and calling the roll, previously prepared, care- 
fully noting the facts about each person named, so that there 
shall be no mistake as to the pay due each one. We had our 
first muster-for-pay the first day of October, at Camp Joe 
Holt. It was the first whisper we had heard about pay since 
our enlistment. We had said very little, if anything, about 
it among ourselves. But, as we had scarcely seen a cent of 
money for a month or more, it was a most Avelcome sugges- 
tion. The disappointment came in the fact that muster for 
pay and the pay itself are quite diff"erent things. The muster 
comes regularly, but the pay comes when it may. In this 
instance it did not come for more than a month after the 
muster. 

The first military funeral the writer witnessed was at 
Camp Joe Holt. Some had died in the regiment before this, 
but, if their burials were conducted according to army regula- 
tions, he did not see them. The following exact description 
of such a burial is copied from Chaplain Qiiint.* " A suitable 
escort (for a private, eight rank and file, properly commanded) 
is formed in two ranks opposite to the tent of the deceased, with 
shouldered arms and bayonets unfixed. On the appearance of 
the cofUn the soldiers present arms. The procession then forms, 



*Potoinac to the Rapidan, p. 22. 



(2 HISTORY OF THE 

on each side of the coffin being three bearers, without arms, 
immediately preceding are the eight soldiers with arms 
reversed (the musket under tlie left arm, barrel downward, 
and steadied by the right hand behind the back) ; in front is 
the music, than whose dirge no sadder sounds ever fell upon 
my ear, as they proceed to the place of burial. With slow 
and measured step and mufiled drum they move. At the 
grave the coffin is placed upon one side, the soldiers resting 
upon their arms, the muzzle upon the foot, the hands clasped 
upon the butt and the head bowed upon the hands. The 
chaplain, who has walked in the rear of the coffin, conducts 
the burial service; 'earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to 
dust.' Three volleys are fired over the grave, and the last 
kindness to the comrade is over." 

To be true to the chronology in the case, an incident 
must be related here, at the risk of breaking in upon the 
solemnity of the subject. A member of one of our companies 
died in the hospital at Darnestown, and the captain very 
properly went from camp with a detail to burj- him. There 
were probably twenty in the squad, all armed. While march- 
ing along, they suddenly met the major-general. The captain, 
thinking he ought to do something, but not knowing what to 
do, brought the men to a present arms, without halting. The 
general gravely returned the salute (or what was intended 
for one), and rode on, but the members of his staff well-nigh 
bursted, in trying to keep from laughing, as our Twenty- 
seventh squad waddled along in the road, holding their guns 
in front of them. As we all learned later, and as the captain 
sliould have known then, the proper tiling to do was simply 
to bring the men to a shoulder arms. 

During the latter part of our stay on Muddy Branch, tiie 
weather became very cold. Several mornings there was ice, 
once two inches thick. The officers bought small sheet-iron 
stoves, which could easily be arranged in their wall tents, and 
made themselves comfortable. The tents for the men were not 
adapted to make-shifts of that kind, or any other, in fact. 
They were too ffat, so that an opening could not be made in 
them to let the pipe out without letting in the rain. 
We still had the same tents we had drawn at Indianaj:)olis. 
In shape they resembled an old-time cow bell, only they were 
proportionately more ilaring at the bottom. Though large 
enough around to accomniodatc sixteen men, they were only 



T W E N r Y - S E V E NTH INDIA N A . 



73 



about seven feet high at the hij^hest point. Their shape at 
the ground being oval, it was hard to raise them higher by 
building under them. Some of the men arranged to warm 
their tents by digging trenches through them, and covering 
them \vith flat stones and earth. The fire was built at the mouth 
of the trench, near the tent door ; at the other end was some 
kind of a chimney which drew the heat through the trench, 
thus warming the top or covering and to some extent the air 
of the tent was warmed also. But most of the men had no 








\ 



Lieut-Col, Morrison, 
recent portrait. 



1st Lieut. John R. Rankin. 

TAKEN when A SERGEANT. 



fire, except on the outside. When the weather was wet it was 
cheerless enough. An Esquimaux family, sitting in a snow 
house, with folded arms and stolid countenances, found their 
counterpart many times over in our camp that fall. We 
were surrounded everywhere with pine trees, several being in 
the camp, and that doleful soughing which the wind makes 
as it passes through them, added its inlluence to our discom- 
fort. It was here that some one said, " He'd be blessed if he 
■ever wanted any more jtine trees around him for ornaments." 
Shortly after our arrival at camp Joe Ilolt, Lieutenant- 



74 HISTORY OF THE 

Colonel Harrison resigned and went home. He had not been' 
with us long enough to make much of a record, but all admired. 
him for his courteous, gentlemanly bearing, and the little he 
had done gave promise of commendable efficiency as an officer. 
Captain McGrew, of Company I, also resigned, while we were 
at this camp. Tlie time had not yet come when company 
officers were much known outside of their own commands,, 
and even there they were mostly untried. Captain Morrison, 
of Company A, was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on the 
recommendation of a majority of the commissioned officers. 
Thus the same authority which had placed Major Mehringer 
over him at Camp Morton now placed him over the Major. 

Fidelity to facts makes it necessary to record one other in 
connection with this period. While here our band arrived,, 
twenty-five able-bodied men. They had been reeruited 
in Indiana after our departure. On one point, as well as 
many others, this history must be deficient. It is : Why 
our band never succeeded any better than it did ? That it 
always remained in the background we all know. The mem- 
bers were fine-looking, well-behaved men. They doubtless 
had patriotic motives in coming into the army. It may be 
that they were not provided with suitable instruments, or 
that they were not properly handled by those in authority, or- 
something else may have caused the failure, for which none of 
them were to blame. The facts are unknown to the writer. 
Only this can be said, it would have been more to the credit 
of the men themselves and to the regiment, if we never had 
had a brass band. Their names only encumber our muster- 
rolls and serve to lower all our creditable percents. The little 
music they ever attempted to plaj' made the regiment, as well 
as themselves, a subject of derision.* 

The time spent at Camp Joe Holt, as well as the previous 
two weeks at Camp Hamilton, and the subsequent two 
months at Camp Halleck, were the sifting periods of the 
Twenty-seventh. That a few men were carried ofiF by sick- 
ness contracted by exposure that would have had the same 
effect upon any of us, is doubtless true ; but, as a rule, those 
only fell by the way, at this stage in their service, whose 
constitutions were too frail or too much impaired, to endure 



■*A11 regimental bands and drmn-niajors were nnistered out l)y 
order of the war department before the end of the tirst year of 
the war. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 75 

the severe ordeals of ariny life. Let us drop a tear to their 
memory. That they did not accomplish more towards sup- 
pressing the rebellion was not because it was not in their 
hearts to c'o more. 

Much of the land in the vicinity of Camp Joe Holt, like 
other vast sections in eastern Maryland and Virginia, had once 
been under cultivation, but becoming so impoverished that 
nothing would grow upon it, had been abandoned. It was said 
that this was the result of the reckless and persistent raising of 
tobacco by slave labor in Colonial times. Fences had long 
since rotted down or been removed ; a thick growth of pine 
now covered most of such fields. The size of some of this pine, 
as well as other facts observable, impressed us with the great 
length of time, relatively, that the country had been settled. 
In an old burying ground, near our camp, the figures on the 
rude sandstone monuments indicated that interments there 
had been as early as 1645. Growing over some of the graves 
were white oak trees nearly, or quite, two feet in diameter. 



CHAPTER Vll. 



CAMP HALLECK OR IIOOSIER CITY. 

The morning of December 2d, we left Camp Joe Holt, in 
obedience to orders received the day before. It is to be 
doubted whether we ever made another move when there were 
i\s few false and contradictory rumors about our destination. 
It was an open secret this time, seemingly understood by all, 
that we were going to the vicinity of Frederick, to go into 
winter quarters. And this instance almost stands alone also 
in the fact that even what was ordered, especially of a desir- 
able character, came to pass according to the programme. 

Those who were bad sick were forwarded to Washington 
by canal*, and the convalescents and heavier commissary stores 
were sent to Point-of-Rocks by canal, thence to Frederick by 
rail. The morning the regiment started was cold and raw, 
later in the day the sun shone mildly. We marched through 
Darnestown, going out the same road we had taken to Coon- 
rods Ferry. Before coming quite to Poolsville we turned to 
the right and soon camped for the night. We had marched 
about ten miles. 

The next day we made the acquaintance of a character 
well remembered by all who soldiered in western ]Maryland, 
Sugar Loaf Mountain. ^Ve passed laboriously along his west- 
ern base, over his stony foot-hills and spurs, that day. He 
was in plain sight in the morning, likewise at night. There 
he stood, lifting his great, bald head up among the clouds and, 
diminutive creatures that we were, we could march all dav in 



*It is on record — sworn testimony before a court-martial — that 
these men were taken from this point to Alexandria, Va., in an 
open coal barge, and that they were laid in two rows, cross-wise of 
the barg-e, heads in and feet out, upon a bed of corn-stalks. When 
it was found that there were more than would go in these two rows 
they were moved farther apart and men were laid the other way, 
between them. More than this, when the barge arrived at Alexan- 
dria it was found that it had leaked on the way, and that many, 
if not all, of the men were lying in water. 



TWKNTV-SEVKNTII INDIANA. 77 

his shadow ! That nii^ht we camped on a rocky hill-side, too 
steep to put up our tents if we had had them. Our wagons 
did not come up until too late for that. Straw and rails were 
plentiful and we used both unsparingly. Probably a third of 
the regiment stole away after dark and slept in neighboring- 
barns and strawstacks. Those who remained were not any 
too comfortable, -with a keen northwest wind sw'eeping the 
hillside, but they were much more so than they often were 
afterwards. 

When we had fairly started, the third morning, we passed 
a citizen who said it was five miles to Frederick, Going a hun- 
dred yards or so farther, we suddenly turned the point of a 
hill, and there w^as Frederick ! apparently at our feet. The 
sun being rather at our backs, throwing his bright beams 
squarely upon the many white btiildings and spires and the 
metal-covered domes of the city, made it seem deceptively 
near. At once we all began to denounce these Maryland 
people as monumental liars. If one should prevaricate in 
some of his answers to the myriads of questions fired at him, 
not in the highest style of courtesy, by a passing regiment, it 
would not be strange, though this gentleman had not. We 
did not go to Frederick that day, but w-e soon found, con- 
clusively, that the distance had not been misrepresented. We 
had really camped about two miles below^ Fredrick Junction. 
Following a road skirting the bluffs, east of the Monocacy, 
W'e crossed the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, a short distance 
east of where it crosses the river. It was a cheering sight 
for us to look upon the track of a railroad again. When we 
heard the first whistle of a locomotive there was a spontane- 
ous cheer. We had seen or heard nothing of the kind since 
leaving Washington, in September. We finally halted, and 
went into camp in the orchard of a Mr. Clay, five miles from- 
Fredrick, on the Ijamsville road. 

The second day we were at this place was a w^elcome one. 
Major Richardson, a paymaster, came and paid us from date 
of enrollment to November 1st, in shining gold and interest- 
bearing treasury notes. How rich we all felt! But, as usual, 
prosperity brought with it trials and temptations. Peddlers 
speedily became as thick around camp as the frogs in the 
plague, and, as for gambling, there was a regular whirlwind 
of it. It is questionable which was the most useless way of 
getting rid of money. The articles sold by the peddlers were 



78 



HISTORY OF THE 



almost worthless, but at fabulous prices. The colonel made 
heroic etTorts to protect the unwary from the seductions of 
both the peddler and gambler. It has always seemed to the 
writer that he was not as well supported by his subordinate 
officers, particularly by tiie company othcers, as he should 
have been. Despite all etTorts, a great deal of money went 
one \vav or the other. 

December 12, our brigade was reviewed by General 




Sergt. James E. S.mvth, Co. A. 

RECENT PORTRAIT. 



Tarvin C. Stone, 
commissary sergeant. 



Banks, in a field north of Frederick. That was our first dose 
of the kind, and it was heroic. The Army of the Potomac 
will stand scandalized until the crack of doom, on account of 
its many so-called "Grand Reviews," and the manner in 
which they were conducted. Fight it would, and did I His- 
tory records no more desperately bloody battles. In the 
spirit with which it met and endured hardships and priva- 
tions, no army in the wide world ever surpassed it. In the 
deathless way it held to its purpose and kept heart under ter- 
ribly discouraging buflfetings and reverses, happily no large 
army in the Civil war was given a chance to equal it. And 
in all the virtues of a soldier and patriot, most of those high 



T\VEXTV-SE\ENTII INDIANA. 79 

in authority averaged well up to those below them. How, in 
this democratic country, with the severe simplicity of our 
institutions and habits of life, and at a time when all that was 
dearest to a loyal man seemed ready to perish, such men could 
countenance (not to say instigate and foster) such stupendous 
and transparent folly, is hard to understand. This review was 
one of the worst of its class — by far the worst we ever saw ! 
In the great disproportion between, the hardships imposed 
upon the soldiers to hold it, and any possible good that could 
come of it ; in the monstrous vanity and nonsense displayed 
by officers, in contrast with the real efficiency show'n later on, 
it could not have been outdone. 

The Twenty-seventh did not enjoy the occasion at all. 
It was a very trying day on the regiment physically. The 
weather was lovely — clear and mild. It was some enjoy- 
ment, also, to pass through the city of Frederick and have a 
little look at scenes outside of camp. But, in addition to the 
work of preparation, it required a march of live miles each 
way to reach the place. Then, we marched two or three 
miles farther, in getting position, passing in review, 
etc. At one time we must have marched a full mile or more 
at a shoulder-arms! At the end of the time our arms had no 
more feeling in them than dead arms. We took no rations 
with us ; were ordered to take none, and had no intimation as 
to how long we would be gone. So we were all day, from 
early morning until late in the evening, with nothing to eat. 

There were other things, also, which tended to give us 
unpleasant recollections of the day. One of the regiments of 
the brigade was from the city of New York. It had been a 
militia regiment, and the men still wore their fancy militia 
uniforms of fine broadcloth, neatly made and tastefully 
trimmed. Another regiment was from Philadelphia, with a 
former mayor of the city for colonel. It also had been nicely 
uniformed at home. Every man looked as though fresh from 
a bandbox. The third regiment was provided with the regu- 
lation dress uniform of the United States army, of that date. 
All of the other regiments had been in the service longer than 
we had, and had participated in reviews before this. They 
all had fine brass bands, with drum majors who could out-do, 
if possible, the major-general himself in "furs and feathers." 
In contrast with these things, not a man in our regiment, as 
far as known, had ever before seen a grand review. We had 



80 HISTORY OK THE 

no music, except a small, poorly equipped drum corps, of 
limited experience. Our uniforms, originally coarse, ill- 
fitting and hideous in design, were now none the better for 
their three months' constant wear. Our drilling and field 
maneuvers, while faithfully persevered in, had not, up to this 
time, been " before folks." However we may have appeared 
to others, in our own minds we felt awkward and ill at ease. 
To be frank, we doubtless did lack style. Our experiences 
previous to entering the army had not fitted us for parades. 
The farms and shops and even the stores and offices of 
Indiana, before the Civil war, were not the places to find men 
who would show to the best advantage on such occasions. 
Though we subsequently improved very much over this, our 
first experience, we never did pride ourselves on our achieve- 
ments at reviews. We returned from this one thoroughly out 
of humor with ourselves and everybody else. 

Among other things to disturb the equanimity of the 
colonel in this camp, the boys found a barrel of hard cider 
in Mr. Clay's spring-house, and some of them got "full" 
on it. The colonel's method of getting rid of this nuisance 
was characteristic. He knocked out the bung and let the 
cider run on the ground. As we were necessarily much 
about Mr. Clay's house, making common property of almost 
everything he had, either that or something else unsettled his 
reason and we had a mad man on our hands. The duty of 
some of the guards day and night was to watch over him. 

A daj^ or so after the review we began work on our win- 
ter quarters. The place selected for a permanent camp was a 
mile north of Mr. Clay's, on land belonging to a Mr. Huff"man. 
It was the prettiest place for the purpose in all that region, 
in fact about the only real good place. It had at first been 
pre-empted by the Third Wisconsin, but they were detailed 
for provost duty in Frederick, and our colonel then took pos- 
session of the site. It was a space about the right size for a 
regimental camp, sloping gently to the south. On the north,, 
east and west it was sheltered by higher ground. A spring 
branch circled around it, from the southeast to the northwest, 
afibrding nice water for washing, while diff'erent convenient 
springs afforded good water for drinking and cooking. At 
the west end of the camp, the branch was met by a deep, dry 
ravine which came around from the northeast. Where these 
two met a slate quarry had been opened and worked until a 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 81 

deep hole liad been excavated, leaving a steep precipice at 
that point, just outside of our guard line. 

On this ground we built us winter quarters, which proved 
to be the w^onder and admiration of all of Banks' division, 
and an unfailing subject of interest to all visitors, notably 
those from the larger Eastern cities. To us, how'cver, there 
was nothing new about them, except in their minor details 
and uses. In a general way, they were modeled after the log 
cabins of the pioneers of Indiana, in which most of us had 
been born. The walls were built of round logs, notched to- 
gether at the ends. The roofs were of clap-boards, which we 
split ourselves, and which w'cre laid in courses upon log 
stringers and held in place by a heavy pole on top of each 
course. The quarters for the men consisted of seven apart- 
ments to a company, all in one row, under one roof. The 
partitions between the apartments were of logs, the same as 
the outside walls. Each apartment w^as provided with a fire- 
place, built as our fathers built theirs. There was a frame 
work of wood, lined inside with stone, laid in mortar and 
surmounted with a chimney composed of sticks, plastered 
inside. In furnishing an abundance of flat stones for these 
fire-places the slate quarry w'as a great convenience. The roofs 
of these company quarters all shedded one way, that was 
away from the company street. They had no floors in them, 
though w'e succeeded in " finding " enough sawed lumber to 
make doors and bunks. All the simple, home-made conven- 
iences of the primitive log-cabin we had — wooden door hinges, 
wooden latches (with strings hanging out or drawn in, accord- 
ing to circumstances) , hooks nailed up to lay the guns in, 
pegs projecting from the walls, to hang things on, benches to 
sit on, etc., etc. 

The officers' quarters were one-room log houses, built 
in their proper places, resembling the men's, except some 
of them had gable roofs, and most of them had floors. Under 
date of December 29, 18G1, Colonel Colgrove wrote to Hon. W. 
A. Peelle, of Indianapolis : "We have a perfect city built for 
winter quarters, one hundred and twenty log houses, 16x18 
feet, chinked and daubed, glass window^s, fire-places and clap- 
board roofs, with the latch-string hanging out. All the regi- 
ments in the division, except ours, are living in tents. They 
can't work with the Iloosier boys. Our city is laid off with 
regular streets, all named — Morton street, Peelle street. Lane 

6 



bZ HISTOKV OF THE 

street, Indiana avenue, etc., etc." The official designation of 
this cantonment was Camp Halleck, though its popular name 
with us was " Hoosier City," We occupied these quarters 
over two months, moving in them December 18, and leaving 
them February 25. 

These were the halcyon days of our soldiering. The mem- 
ber of the regiment who saw much service with it, and yet, 
who was not present that winter, is like a man who has had no 
boyhood. We saw some hardships, it is true. There were 
duties in bad, bad weather, a large amount of sickness of differ- 
ent kinds and other inconveniences and deprivations incident 






I] 










^^, 



Newspapers ix Camp. 

to our situation. But the good cheer far overbalanced the 
things of a difl'erent nature. When well and off duty we were 
always comfortable, usually happy. Rations were abundant 
and of good quality, The quartermaster exchanged flour in 
the city for bread, pound for pound, which was fresh and good. 
Wood was abundant and easily obtained. Our camp stood thick 
with timber when we located it ; when we left, the timber line 
had receded but a short distance. We had all the candles we 
wanted to burn and the rule of '"Lights out at taps " was not 
enforced. So, in stormy weather and during the long winter 
evenings, we sat around blazing fires and read, wrote letters, 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 83 

played cards, spun yarns or whatever else suggested itself. 

The aggregate amount of any one of these things done in 
the army, if adequately stated, would seem astonishing to 
some people. Papers were bought in armsful, letters were 
written in tons, while cards were played and "lies" were 
swapped incessantly. 

During this winter the newsboy (a man) came to camp 
every day, with Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and 
New York papers. He rode horseback and announced his 
approach by tooting a tin horn. The horse was loaded to his 
full capacity, and when there was money among the men. one 
had to run quickly and meet the newsboy outside of camp, to 
be sure of getting a paper. Often soldiers who could not 
read bought papers, frequently one of every kind the man 
had, and begged others to read to them. Every day the mails, 
both going and coming, were gorged. One mail came to the 
regiment here containing five bushels of letters. It is on 
record that one company alone received two hundred and 
sixty-nine letters at this time. The interest in writing and 
receiving letters never waned during the war. To empty 
every hut or tent, in the shortest possible time, day or night, 
it was only necessary to shout " mail" at the head of the com- 
pany street. 

Our chaplain, when with the regiment, had charge 
of the mails. Sometimes a soldier was detailed to assist 
him. Mail going out was taken to the chaplain's tent. 
When mail was brought in, it was distributed to the company 
by the chaplain and his assistants, and the orderly sergeant 
publicly called out the name on each letter. 

The chaplain was often annoyed a great deal by questions, 
as all postmasters are, about when the mail would go out or come 
in. There is a story of a chaplain, who, to escape this annoy- 
ance, posted a notice outside of his tent reading : " The chap- 
lain does not know when the next mail will go out or come 
in." vSome impious soldier slyly added in the same hand, 
" and don't care a damn." 

Card playing was done extensively for stakes. This was 
always more or less under ban. Sometimes it would be done 
quite openly and nothing was said about it. Then a descent 
would be made on a knot of gamblers. The money, if it 
could be seized, was confiscated and the men punished in some 
Avay, but gambling went on, all the same. There was also an 



84 IIISTOUV OF THE 

endless amount of card playing for pastime only, or for some 
trivial stake, as, who should get a bucket of water, bring a 
load of wood, cook a meal, or something of the kind. Games 
were carried on, too, all day and long into the night, some- 
times running through several days, out of pure rivalry, one 
party being determined that they would not be beaten by 
another at euchre, seven-up or pitch-seven. 

In common conversation, all subjects were discussed, 
from the latest complications in the military or political situ- 
ation, to the question of where Cain got his wife. Matters at 
home, and experiences before leaving home, came in for a 
large share. Neither was a military camp, composed entirely 
of men, wholly free from gossip. The worst tattler at a sew- 
ing circle could not put more pure fiction in circulation Mian 
was constantly going the rounds of camp. If the cannons 
boomed somewhere, as they did often, it would not be an 
hour until the booming was accounted for somehow. Tlie 
rebels had crossed the Potomac somewhere, so many thousand 
strong; some part of our army had begun the invasion of Vir- 
ginia and all the balance were to follow shortly ; a revcse had 
been met with here or a great victory gained there. If an 
orderly rode into camp he would 'not be gone ten minutes 
until a dozen stories were in circulation explaining his errand. 
We were ordered to move somewhere ; our regiment was 
detached to go to the army at Charleston, New Orleans or 
some other point ; Governor Morton had requested us to be 
sent back to Indianapolis, and so on without end. Not a word 
of any of it was true. It was wholly the invention of a gossip 
or story teller — some might call him a liar. 

But many good people have a very erroneous impression 
concerning one feature of the conversation that was heard 
around a camp fire during this war. The writer has had occa- 
sion again, and again, to contradict a defamatory and, as it 
would seem deep-rooted, understanding that many persons 
have relative to Union soldiers, upon which their interchange 
of ideas around their camp-fires shed a bright light. The 
eroneous impression referred to is, that soldiers, as a rule, 
had no adequate or well-defined conception as to why they 
were bearing arms, or what their being in the army might in- 
volve. Any one who could have heard the almost constant 
discussions going on around the camp-fires would know better 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 



85 



than this. He would be ashamed to betray such glaring 
ignorance of the real facts. 

True, most Union soldiers were from the middle class and 
had limited educations. Many of them had scarcely any ed- 
ucation, such as comes from books ; but that is not saying that 
they were not intelligent, and on some points, perhaps on 
many, were not thoroughly well informed. This will not be 
so hard to believe if it is remembered that throughout Indiana, 
and all over the West, previous to the war, were to be found 
many men, of large means and of extensive and complicated 
business interests, who could not read or write. Yet the person 
who tried to defraud these men in a business transaction, even 
one that involved intricate problems of interest, discount or 




TWO I'.KOTIIERS. 

LiKiT. Isaac Van Buskikk, Orderly Sergt. JonnVan Buskirk, 
Co. F. Died of wounds at " Sandy " of Co. F. 

Chancellors viLi.E. 

taken at hoosier city. 

storage, invariably had his labor for his pains. So Union 
soldiers, if they were deficient in some respects, if they lacked 
information or insight concerning some subjects, when it came 
to questions involved in the war or to the perils and sacrifices 
to be expected in the strife, what they knew and the extent to 
which they anticipated things, were surprising. 



86 HISTORY OF THE 

Among the occupants of one of the cabins at Camp Hal- 
leck was a young man who had a brother in the rebel army. 
Others in the same cabin liad been born in slave States, and 
had many friends and relatives living in the South, with whom 
they had been in close touch up to the breaking out of the 
war. Of those born in Indiana, most of their parents had 
been Southerners, only two or three of them having come 
from Ohio or States further east. One or more of the dozen 
men in that cabin fell upon every battle-field where the 
Twenty-seventh met the enemy. The dust of the one having 
a brother in the rebel army awaits the trumpet of the arch- 
angel underneath one of the little mounds in the National 
Cemetery at Gettysburg, with a name not his own on the 
modest headstone that marks his last resting place. An<.ther 
gave not only his life but his very name for his country, at 
Chancellorsville. A third, did the same in Anderson\ille 
prison. Others went to early graves, or have struggled on 
through life with one foot or one hand or with impaired 
health. But no experience of hardship, wounds or death that 
came to any one of them was of the nature of a surprise to 
him. He and his messmates had talked it all over, time and 
time again, around the camp-fire. They did this at Camp 
Ilalleck and at every other camp where they sojourned. They 
foresaw clearly what might be in store for them, and with 
equal clearness did they understand the issues involved in the 
W'ar. Those of them still living have learned something in 
the passing years, since the great struggle ended, but tliev 
have not learned much as to what the struggle was about or 
as to what the effect would be if it terminated one way or the 
other. The fact was revealed around the camp-fire that iheir 
grasp and comprehension of these matters were then equiil to 
that of meii in far higher and more responsible stations. If 
opinions and convictions bearing upon the causes of the war 
and upon its prosecution were stated in better language, if 
discussions about them were more cultured, in Northern club 
rooms, in the meetings of Congressional committees or in 
cabinet councils ; it is doubtful whether they were any better 
understood or more fully appreciated, than by the membiMS of 
this parliament of free thought around the camp-fires, by the 
men in the ranks. 

There were two or three fiddles in the Twenty-seventh 
which were kept going this winter at Camp Ilalleck, almost 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 87 

night and day. At nij^ht, particularly, they could always be 
heard, in one place or another. With the fiddles were the 
accompanying dancers. Some of them might have command- 
ed wages as jig dancers at the varieties. They could always 
entertain a crowd. When wearied looking at jig dancing 
and waltzing, the whole party often joined in a reel or 
cotillion — a genuine " stag" dance. To designate the 
*' ladies," or those acting as such, a handkerchief or scarf was 
tied around their arms. 

In one instance two men owned a Hddle in partnership. 
One of them was peculiar, and may have grown tired of hear- 
ing the instrument. When the company came in from drill 
one day, he having been left behind, he had cut the partner- 
ship fiddle in two. He said it was not satisfactory to him to 
own a fiddle in connection with another party ; he wanted 
■what he owned all to himself, so he had divided his half from 
the other half. 

There was not a large amount of singing in the Twenty- 
seventh. There was some singing, but the education of most 
in that direction had been neglected. Religious singing is 
not referred to. W hen religious services w'ere held, there 
was always singing, and there was some hymn singing in 
addition, mostly by individuals. But promiscuous singing 
was not extensively indulged in. There were a few knots of 
singers and one or two clever performers, as guitar players 
and solo singers. They were rather too modest, however, to 
contribute much to public entertainment. Company K was 
more given to singing than any other. Their soft-flowing, 
rythmic " Dutch " songs could be heard in their quarters 
every night. 

Of out-door sports and recreations, and breathing spells 
out of camp, we had enough. Most of these were lawful and 
wholesome, but sometimes we tasted forbidden fruit. The 
weather was too uncertain and the ground too soft for much 
drilling, especially until later in the winter. Toward the 
last of our stay we did considerable of it. But any pleasant 
day there was ball playing, running, jumping, wrestling and 
scuffling. Occasionally there was a downright fist fight, the 
result of some quarrel. It was not considered the thing at 
any time in the Tw^enty-seventh to part two men, at all 
equally matched, until one or the other said " enough." In 
fact, it was not safe to fjuarrel unless one wanted to fight. A 



88 HISTORY OP' THE 

ring was often formed, with the two quarreling fellows inside, 
and they were almost compelled to knock it out or quit quar- 
reling. There was one famous public scuttle or wrestle, 
"catch-as-catch-can" here, between a member of Company A 
and one of Company F. Both were powerful men and ex- 
perts in that line. Considerable money changed hands on 
the result. 

A trip to the city in pleasant weather afforded an agree- 
able day's outing. Fredrick was an old, antiquated looking 
place, but live and thrifty in a business way, with stores full 
of goods, at reasonable prices. The rates in the restaurants 
were lower than at Indianapolis. Oysters were a "bit" a 
dish served cooked, or the same per quart raw. The people 
were mostly loyal ; all of them were kind and hospitable. 
The country around Frederick was superb, very productive 
and finely improved. It was a land of plenty. Our route to 
the city was north to the Baltimore pike, a short mile, 
thence over that thoroughfare. It crossed the ISIonocacy on 
a solid stone bridge of two arches, built after the old Roman 
pattern. 

Most of the bovs got more or less acquainted with the 
people in the vicinity of camp. Parties among them were 
frequent. They were quite willing (for a consideration) to 
open their houses for parties, and the country maidens were 
not averse to the company of the young soldiers from Indiana. 

One of these parties was more noted than the rest because 
of its results. Up to that time few restraints had been thrown 
upon attendance on such occasions. This time the interest 
was so great and talk so extensive that the colonel felt called 
upon to forbid anyone going. Nevertheless, a large number 
w^ent — several commissioned officers, more non-commissioned 
officers, and privates uncounted. A supply of " commissary " 
was on hand also. Along with considerable noisy and riotous 
conduct, there was a knock-down between two shoulder- 
strappers. One of these sustained a near relation to the 
colonel, where his eye, snugly draped in mourning, betrayed 
him. In inquiring into the cause of the damaged eye, the 
whole matter was unearthed. A diary in possession of the 
writer says, under that date: " Only ffftN'-four in the guard 
house." The singing, shouting and roystering proceeding 
from that over-crowded "pen" was terrific. It continued 
both day and night. Next to the men themselves, nobody 



1 W K NTV- SK VENTII IN HI A X A . 



89 



Avas inconvenienced as much as the colonel, the guard-house 
being near his cabin. 

One night the colonel suddenly appeared among the men 
in the guard-house, just when interest chiefly centered in a 
game of cards, which was going on for stakes. All at once a 
vicious kick sent lap-board, cards, money and all, up to the 
roof. Then the air turned blue with a certain species of 
adjectives that the colonel could use when he tried. With 
these profusely thrown in, he explained that he had put them 
in where they were for violation of orders, and here they were 
violating orders more than before. 




Hknkv \'a.\ N'ookst, Co. F. Sekg't Joux Camabell, Co. F. 

Nobody suffered much in the end, for these infractions of 
discipline, but the poor non-commissioned ofHcers. At this 
period of our service they were reduced to ranks for very 
trivial offenses, real or imaginary. Possibly the colonel might 
have carried the matter concerning the party as far as a court- 
martial for the whole lot, but the commander of one of the 
companies went to him and told him, confidentially, that he 
IkuI most of his best men in the guard-house. So. after a few 
davs" Lontinement. thev were all released. 



90 HISTORY OF THE 

Practical jokes necessarily had to be put under ban to 
some extent in the army. There was too much danger of 
their being played on the weak and friendless. Still, many 
that were good-humored and harmless were tolerated. Some 
that were not so were inflicted, in defiance of authority. A 
common one at Hoosier City was to drop cartridges down the 
chimneys into the fire and listen to their explosion. Usually 
there were accomplices, and, where it was only for fun. the 
one throwing the cartridge was advised by his confederate 
(who, on some pretext, had gone into the hut) when to 
throw the cartridge, so it would do no serious harm. In one 
case the orderly-sergeant of a company and his chum were 
suspected of retaining more than their rightful share of the 
rations, particularly the choicest cuts of beef. One day the 
boys smelled tantalizing fumes of boiling beef proceeding 
from their hut, when beef was badly needed by otheis. As 
soon as they could be collected therefore, a bundle of car- 
tridges was dropped down this particular chimney. The 
explosion which followed filled the room with beef, coals, 
ashes, smoke and steam, and sent the two men out at the door, 
without regard to order. If all the others appreciated the 
joke, the two men did not. 

It was here that Gosport money began to trouble our 
regimental authorities considerably, and the peddlers more. 
Gosport, in Owen county, had had a bank before the war, 
which had ultimately failed. A part of the assets were a 
large number of nicely engraved but unsigned bills, of dift'er- 
ent denominations. Members of the regiment from Gosport 
by some means received these bills in quantities and sold 
them to others for trifling sums. At that time, when no two 
communities a hundred miles apart had the same kind of 
money, it was easy to sign fictitious names as president and 
cashier and pass the bills onto the peddlers. The oni)^ 
excuse for, or palliation of, the fault, was that many 
of the peddlers were rebel sympathizers, and all of them 
were utterly unscrupulous as to the character uf their 
goods and shamefully extortionate in their prices. One 
day a man came to camp with a large wagon loaded 
down with high-priced pies, cakes, etc. The colonel had 
stationed a guard some distance out, to warn such of their 
danger. But this fellow was a smart one, and, tliinking 
the guard, perchance, might stop him, lie turned otY and 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 91 

made a wide circuit around him. By that means he reached 
the camp at a rather isohited point and drove inside. He 
may have found other regiments out of money, but here he 
found plenty. No comphiints were made about his prices. 
Trade was brisk. Bills were large, but he had provided him- 
self with plenty of change. He soon sold all he had and 
could have sold more. He drove away in high spirits, with 
pockets wadded with money. But he soon returned in a woe- 
begone plight. He had found the real value of Gosport 
money. The colonel never had a better chance to get even 
with a man. In forceful language he rehearsed the case to 
him ; how he had placed a guard to warn him ; how the man 
had dodged the guard ; how he had disregarded the rules and 
driven into camp. Now he might go to . 

It seems strange, but only a few furloughs were granted 
to members of the regiment during this long period of inactiv- 
ity. The colonel and several other officers had short leaves of 
absence. With the men, one at a time from a company, was the 
limit. Where no other favoritism was shown, married men were 
given the preference. In addition to the length of the furlough 
(fifteen days), considerable time was consumed in sending the 
application to headquarters and getting a return. So, about 
two from each company wefe all who were permitted to visit 
home. Of course no one knew certainly that we would be in- 
active as long as we were. Several times, indeed, we did re- 
ceive orders to get ready to march. Once or twice we cooked 
rations and were ready to start. A demonstration by a few 
rebels, somewhere along the Potomac, was enough to put our 
whole arm}- in a flurry, and stop all furloughs for several days. 

Excepting what drilling we did, we had few other duties 
but camp guard. This was maintained rigorously night, and 
day, through all kinds of weather. Each soldier's turn came 
about once in three to five days. Many regiments omitted 
camp guards in very foul weather, but in ours this was not 
done. 

The authorities of the regiment were suddenly confronted 
one day at Camp Halleck with the question as to what the 
army was to do with runaway slaves. Qiiartermaster Jami- 
son had employed, as a servant, a likelv mulatto boy, named 
Henry. Without any previous warning, a Doctor Bussard 
appeared in camp, on the day in question, and inquired for 
Henry, claiming him as his " property." All liad been care- 



92 JIISTORV OF THE 

fill to say before this that tliey were not in the army to free 
the slaves. This meant, of course, that they were not in 
the army to override the law legalizing slavery, but only to 
enforce the higher law, imbedded in the Constitution itself, 
binding the States together in the Union. But if slaves 
escaped, were we to help or hinder in their recapture? The 
theory on this point had been that we were neither to help 
nor hinder. But theory and practice are often wide apart. 
When brought face to face with the matter of standing by 
and seeing a slave recaptured, particularly a bright, prepos- 
sessing young man, more than half white, our officers to a 
man, and as many of the rank and fde as were apprised of the 
facts, said no ! It required a far different education from what 
our free Iloosier state afforded, to fit men for such a position. 
Instead, therefore, of correct information about the boy, or 
any help in tracing him, the doctor received considerable 
gratuitous advice as to what he had better do and where he 
had better go, for his own safety. In the meantime, Henry 
had received and acted upon a little timely advice, and was 
nowhere to be found. It cannot be told what the officers or 
the men would have done if the doctor had happened 
upon Henry, and proceeded to take him back to slavery. The 
pre>umption seems strong, however, that he would have 
speedily gone out of camp with something less than a thousand 
boots, ranging from eights to elevens, playing upon his pos- 
terior anatomy. 

Many boxes came to the regiment this winter from friends 
at home. Some came to individuals, others were partly in- 
tended for individuals and also for the members of certain 
companies in general. They consisted both of clothing and 
eatables. The reception of "a box" constituted an era in the 
history of a company. While most of the things were needed 
badly enough to be appreciated on that account, they were 
looked upon as being even more valuable as tokens of a 
thoughtful interest in our welfare on the part of loyal friends 
at home. 

In January, the paymaster came again, giving us another 
two months' pay. Those who had not settled with the sutler, 
to that worthy's satisfaction, at the previous pay-day, found 
his claim deducted from their allowance this time. The read- 
ers of the recent story of " Si Klegg'' will remember his feel- 
ings after receiving the small pittance coming to him when 



TWENTV-SK\'KNTir INDIANA. 93 

the sutler's checks had been paid. Many among us know how 
to sympathize with Si. We have been there ourselves. Still, 
it is on record that, at this pay-day and the one previous, .$31,- 
331 were sent home by the regiment, out of less than five 
months pay. This did not include the field and staff officers, 
or the band, and others were likely missed also. Thirty-five 
thousand dollars would be a low estimate for the entire regi- 
ment, at both pay-days. 

The victories of our Western armies at Mill Springs and 
Forts Henry and Donelson were announced to the regiment 
at this camp, by official bulletins. We were called into line 
and the dispatches were read by the adjutant. They caused the 
wildest joy among us. Cheering, shouting and singing con- 
tinued, after each announcement, until long into the night. 

About this time a detail of one from a company was 
made for the Western gunboat service. Those who were 
sent away then never returned to the regiment. 

We observed Washington's birthday by a pole raising 
and other public exercises. The flag which citizens of Bloom- 
ington had given to Company F was run up the pole. 
Lieutenant Cassady read Washington's Farewell Address, 
and the colonel made a speech. The colonel's speech, as the 
writer remembers it, was, in substance, about this: "George 
Washington was all right, the country was all right and the 
Twenty-seventh was all right. The only thing to be 
complained of was that we had, so far, had no chance for a 
scrap with the "Johnnies." The same speech was repeated, in 
the main, on all similar occasions, up to the summer of '62. 
After that, for obvious reasons, it was heard no more. 

This must have been a very mild winter, even for that 
climate. After coming to the vicinity of Frederick, ice 
was at no time over two inches thick. There was much 
stormy weather, snow as well as rain, but the next day after a 
furious storm was often as bright and mild as a May day. 
Mud in our streets was frequently almost impassible. 

The dark background to our life at Camp Halleck was 
the large amount of sickness, so much of it resulting fatally. 
The prevailing trouble was pneumonia. This was brought on 
by exposure, some of it doubtless unnecessary. At one time it 
prevailed to an alarming extent. There were well equipped 
hospitals in Frederick, and those who were not attacked so 
violently that they could not be moved, were taken there for 



94 HISTOUV OK THE 

treatment. Our regimental hospital was a log house, about 
20x24 feet, built like the others, but provided with a stove. 
The writer was a patient in it, sick with pneumonia, for about 
ten days. The first six nights he was there, seven men died. 
At that time all the floor space, except a narrow aisle through 
the center, was occupied by cots containing sick. Those sent 
to Frederick for treatment did not seem to fare any better than 
those treated in camp. Almost every day word was brought 
that some agreeable companion and promising soldier, had been 
mustered out. It was their sad fate to fall before meeting the 
real foe, but they died for their country. A large proportion 
of their remains were sent home, or friends came after them. 
The others now rest in the charming National Cemetery at 
Antietam. 

February 24, we received orders to cook three days rations 
and be ready to march. While we were willing to do our 
duty and wanted the army to be about its work, we were loth 
to leave our comfortable camp. We did not feel certain of do- 
ing so, but next morning, the 25th, before daylight, we marched 
away, leaving all our quarters intact. 

In August, 1889, more than twenty-seven years afterward, 
the writer visited the spot again. He was, up to that time, as 
far as known, the only member of the regiment who had done 
so. No difficulty was experienced, either in going to or rec- 
ognizing the place. The huts were, of course, all gone. A 
small farm house stood three or four rods east of the slate 
quarry. The improved land about the house was very nearly 
the same as that included within the limits of our guard line. 
Outside the fence, along the ravine on the north, was a deep 
path, which had every appearance of being the guard line 
itself, worn there by the ceaseless tramping of sentinels. 
Along that ravine and on the hill farther north, the stumps 
still remained where we cut our fire-wood. They were not 
cut any too near the ground. At different points where the 
camp was, were large bearing apple trees, which sprang up 
from seeds dropped by the soldiers. The lady at the house in- 
formed the writer that silver dimes and quarters could fre- 
quently be found yet, at different points, particularly where 
she understood the sutler's tent had been. 



CHAPTER Vlll. 

OX TO WIXCIIESTER. 

The morninj^ of Febnuiry 25, before it was fairly light, 
the regiment was formed in line, the colonel gave the com- 
mand " Battalion, right-face, forward march," and we moved 
out of Camp Halleck, to return no more. We w^ere leaving 
highly prized conveniences and pleasant surroundings, yet 
there was the usual cheering and demonstrations of gladness. 
The matter was often discussed among us and there was never 
any dissent from the sentiment that, if the difficulties in which 
the country was involved had to be adjusted on the battlefield, 
as seemed so certain, we were ready to do our share, and the 
sooner it was done the better it w^ould suit us. So, not only 
this move, but every other one, clear on to the end, which 
promised something decisive, was made with hilarious exhibi- 
tions of satisfaction. 

We marched over the hills, directly south, to the railroad, 
not much over a mile, and found cars awaiting us. They w'ere 
ordinary flat cars, wholl}' innocent of any kind of seats, but 
we climbed on, when ordered, with alacrity. The marching 
we had done up to this time was nothing, still w'e had done 
en ough to be willing to ride any way we might and ask no 
questions. Even before this, one of the boys was asked while 
on a march, if he would be willing now to ride in a cattle 
car. The question related to some former refusal, or threat- 
ened refusal, to ride in such cars. The reply was, " Yes, by 
blank, I would gladly ride on the running gears of a w^agon, 
if I had a chance." 

A few minutes sufficed for getting aboard, and the 
train pulled westward, carrying us to Sandy Hook, oppo- 
site Harper's Ferry. A large force was concentrating there. 
At Point of Rocks, where the Baltimore and Ohio railroad 
in its westward course first touches the Potomac river, we 
saw for the first time some traces of that huge, monstrous and 
remorseless concomitant of war, which all soldiers saw so 
much of before the end, namely, destruction of property. 
Of the long, expensive bridge that spanned the Potomac at 



96 



HISTORY OF THE 



Point of Rocks nothing remained but the stone piers. Most 
of the buildings on both sides of the river had been reduced to 
ashes and bhickened walls. Where any remained tl>ey were 
riddled with cannon balls and distressed by other species of 
rough usage. 

At Sandy Hook and Harper's Ferrv the case was sub- 
stantially the same. The fine railroad bridt^e here was also 
gone. The rugged and picturesque naturitl scenery of this 
vicinity is justly far famed. As distinguished a person 
as Thomas Jefferson has left on record his high apprecia- 




George W. Gore, Co. D. 

RECENT portrait. 



John Bresxaiiax, Co. A. 

RECENT I'OK PRAIT. 



tion of it. The Potomac seems to cut squarely through the 
Blue Ridge range here and makes some majestic curves while 
passing between almost perpendicular stone walls, many hun- 
dred feet high. On the Maryland side there is scanty room 
for one street between the rocky wall and the water's edge. 
In war times the few, cheap, weatherbeaten houses along this 
one, straggling street constituted the village of Sandy Hook. 
On the Virginia side the Shenandoah, coming from the south, 
after vainly beating against the rocky clifTs of the Blue Ridge, 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 97 

finds an outlet into the Potomac, just where the latter breaks 
through the ridge. On the wedge-shaped piece of rising ground 
between the two rivers is perched the town of Harper's Ferry, 
rendered so full of interest at this period by John Brown's un- 
lawful and ill-advised, though not unmerited, blow at slavery. 
Many of its sidewalks are successive flights of stone steps and 
many of its inhabitants could easily commit suicide by jump- 
ing from their doorsteps into their front yard. The country 
for a long distance, in all directions from Sandy Hook and 
Harper's Ferry, is very broken. By going back in the direc- 
tion we had come this time, and climbing part way up the 
east side of the Blue Ridge, we found a field large enough and 
barely level enough for a camp. That such ground is scarce 
in that region is evidenced by the fact that, being at Sandy 
Hook on two subseciuent occasions, we camped upon the same 
ground. 

On February 2G, we crossed the Potomac into Virginia. 
This we regarded as an event of great importance. We were 
at last upon insurgent soil. We were familiar with the habit 
among boys of giving a dare by making a mark upon the 
ground and challenging the other fellow to cross it. Some- 
thing of the same method had obtained thus far in the war. 
When the boundary of a state which had declared its separa- 
tion from the Union was crossed it was understood to mean 
that hostilities had begun. 

The crossing was effected on a pontoon bridge. Needless 
to say we had never seen one before. This was said to be the 
first one used in real war, in the United States. Either the 
event of our using the bridge, or the one that we were moving 
into the enemy's country, was of sufficient importance to bring 
General ]McClellan up from Washington, with his immense 
retinue of staflf officers and orderlies. He stood upon the stone 
coping of the canal lock, near the end of the bridge, where 
we had an unobstructed view of him in passing. This was 
the first time most of us had seen the then much adulated 
" Little Mack." 

The boats composing this bridge had wood frames and 

canvass bottoms. They were anchored at regular intervals in 

the stream, by what seemed to be the regulation pattern of 

anchors for other boats. The method of our crossing now 

was in strong contrast with what it was at this identical 

place, and on a similar bridge, ten months afterward. Xow 
7 



08 HISTORY OF THE 

an officer stood at the end of the bridge and saw that 
the distances between the ranks were widened and the step 
broken. The teams, when the train came to cross, were 
detached from the wagons, and the latter were pushed over 
by hand. The same course was pursued with the artillery. 
But in the following December we marched over as if on 
solid ground, and the wagons and artillery did likewise. The 
water, at this first crossing, was high, and owing to the 
excessive fall in the river at that point, something like a hun- 
dred feet in a mile, the current was tremendous. At the next 
crossing the water was not high. Still, the difference was 
mostly due to increased experience with such a bridge. 

Harper's Ferry was a fitting place to begin an advance 
against the rebellion. It was a rebellion solely in the interests 
of slavery. Though it was recognized in the constitution and 
protected by numberless laws and court decisions, the friends 
of that institution were not satisfied. Crazed by certain inci- 
dents (prominent among which was the wild escapade of John 
Brown) they had decided to break up the government. If it 
was right to suppress his lawless act, how much more was it 
right to suppress their's.'' 

As regiment after regiment crossed to-day the air rang 
with the melody : 

"John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave, 
But his soul goes marching on." 

This was always a favorite song with the Union army. In 
singing it the Union soldiers were speaking better than 
they knew. Though in taking up arms, nor even in singing 
the song, most of them did not mean that it should be so, their 
victorious marches, which were always enlivened and made 
easier by the singing, were to bring about the end for which 
John Brown had died. When they were marching on it was 
really the soul of John Brown. 

The Twenty-seventh, and most of the troops on that 
side of the river, pursuant to orders, spent the first night, 
in the abandoned dwellings of Harper's Ferry. This would 
have .seemed a ludicrous proceeding later on. Of course there 
were a few troops which remained on guard, instead of break- 
ing up into small squads about the town. There were pickets 
out and all that ; but if we were in the presence of an enemy, 
as all seemed to think, nothing but a corresponding simplicity 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 99 

on his part, in playing at war, stood in tlie way of his accom- 
plishing our complete overthrow. 

And the way of putting in the first night in the enemy's 
country was an index of what was to follow. The fact has 
often been cited that, when the war began, there were no 
officers on the Union side, fit for service, of higher rank than 
captain. It would be difficult, however, to trace in this 
movement upon Winchester, the hand of even a captain of 
some military experience. In 1864 Sheridan occupied much 
the same position with his army that Banks occupied with 
his, after clearing the river. One day Sheridan decided to 
move, the next he fought a battle near Winchester, and the 
third day he had the enemy in full retreat, up the valley. 
This time it was fifteen days after our crossing the Potomac 
before we entered Winchester unopposed. One brigade, 
sometimes only one regiment, advanced at a time. These 
successive advances were usually on different roads, at some 
distance from each other. When a halt was made each com- 
mander selected a suitable place for a camp, ordered the big 
tents, then in use, put up, and soldiers of all ranks w^ere as 
care-free and as little solicitous about being molested, as 
they had been at home. At no time was there any formation 
or other provision made against an attack. The man who 
would have suggested anything like a breastwork or a trench 
would probably have been voted as out of his head. 

It was no trouble to find empty houses in Harper's Ferrv. 
The population had been largely employed, before the war, in 
the government arsenal. This was now in ruins, having been 
burned by the same people who had been so enraged at John 
Brown for taking forcible possession of it. The machinery of 
the arsenal had been removed south by the insurgents, and 
most of the operatives had gone along. Considerable of their 
furniture and personal effects, though not all, had been left 
behind. 

After spending one night in the houses of Harper's 
Ferry and another in camp near by, we marched out, late in 
the evening, to Charlestown. Our camp there was on the 
high ridge, at the northeastern edge of the town, opposite the 
residence of ex-Senator Hunter, A person visiting that loca- 
tion in time of peace, especially in summer time, will find it 
very charming, commanding, as it does, a view not often sur- 
passed. The writer has no recollection of being thus im- 
L.ofC. 



100 HISTORY OK TUK 

pressed at this time. There was a high, cold wind blowing, 
and the wagons were late getting up with tents and rations, 
rendering our condition very cheerless. Only part of the 
regiment put their tents up when they did arrive, while part 
laid down under the big oak trees and went to sleep. The 
next morning the latter found their scant covering reinforced 
by four or live inches of snow. 

Our interest in Charlestown was also greatly heightened 
by its relation to the grim old apostle and martyr of freedom 
for the slave. This being the county seat of the county in 
which his offense was committed, it was here that John 
Brown was tried, convicted and died on the gallows. Many 
of us visited the chief points of interest in the historic drama. 
We saw the jail where he was confined, the courtroom into 
which he was carried on a litter to be tried; where, with the 
conscientiousness of a medieval martyr, he refused to permit 
the plea of mental derangement in any form to be entered in 
his behalf, and where, with heroic fortitude, he received his 
sentence. We were also shown the field where he was pub- 
licly executed, and the very instruments — platform and 
gibbet — by which it was accomplished. 

The writer's mental processes, in contemplating these 
matters, were probably verj' nearly the same as most of those 
who had come there from the North with arms in their hands. 
Personally, he had not been greatly awakened on the subject 
of slavery. As far as he had any bias, he was in favor of let- 
ting it alone, which involved the execution of all laws relating 
to it, particularly in states where it existed. From this stand- 
point, the punishment of John Brown and his associates was 
right. But the fact that the same people who clamored for 
his life were now in rebellion against laws equally, if not 
more sacred than those he violated, their armies being led by 
the same man who led the forces when he was captured, 
Robert E. Lee, turned the sympathies of the writer wholly to 
John Brown. \Vhile the unselfisii end he had in view and 
the patient, uncomplaining spirit he manifested, in contrast 
with the monstrous cupidity of their end, and the murderous 
arrogance of their spirit, was the chief, if not the only factor, 
in transforming John Brown from a criminal to a demigod. 

We remained at Charlestown over a week, occupied 
chiefly in guarding the property of persons in the rebel army, 
or who had fled on the approach of our army. The writer's 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 101 

company took a turn of two or three days guarding a fine 
plantation, some three miles beyond the town, which was 
said to belong to a rebel lieutenant-colonel. It was distinctly 
stated in our instructions that we must not distress anything 
ourselves, or allow it to be done, because such a course would 
infuriate the owner. He must have been equally considerate 
of our feelings, or else was too far away ; otherwise, he would 
have headed his command and made us all prisoners, isolated 
as we were. ISIarch 6, the brigade moved on to Beckley's 
Mill, a mile beyond Smithfield. This camp will always be 
sadly remembered by us as the place where we lost our first 
man killed by the enemy. This was John Cheatham, of 
Company C. Ilis company was on picket. Half a mile in 
front of the reserve and half as much farther beyond the 
picket line was a farm house. In the night, after the reliefs 
were changed, two of those coming off duty slipped down 
toward the house and caught a goose, out of a flock which 
had betrayed its presence by quaking. The next morning, 
on complaint of the owner, the entire brigade of four regi- 
ments was searched for the missing goose. Among the com- 
pany on picket, the brigadier-general conducted the search. 
All the time the goose was snugly rolled up in a blanket 
and packed safely away in a knapsack. Other members of 
the company, with less caution, had robbed a hive of bees. 
Some evidence of this was discovered by the general, in the 
fragments of honeycomb scattered about where the company 
was stationed. This led to the severe reprimand of several 
persons and the usual reduction to ranks of two or three un- 
offending non-commissioned officers. 

A few minutes after the above search had been concluded 
John Cheatham, and a comrade, went over to the house to see 
if they could buy something nice for breakfast. About the 
time they arrived there a party of horsemen rode up and 
opened fire upon them. One of the first shots struck Cheat- 
ham in the head, killing him dead. The surrender of the 
other one was accepted, and he was carried oft' a prisoner. 
Two years after this, under Sherman or Sheridan, the pro- 
prietor of the farm would have been unceremoniously shot 
and his buildings burned. Now, with mingled emotions of 
rage and sorrow, we took a last look at the endeared features 
of our murdered comrade and buried him in his blanket, at 
the foot of an oak tree. The farmer's property was meantime 



102 HISTORY OF THE 

carefully guarded until our loyal army was ready to depart. 

On the morning of March 10, we had orders to move. 
We struck tents in the rain and were soon ready to go* 
Presently an order came to put up tents again. Just when we 
had them fairly up and ourselves sheltered, another order 
came to take them down. This time we went. Our route 
lay over sticky clay roads, thoroughly saturated with the rain 
and stirred up by marching troops. We crossed a number of 
creeks, or the same creek a number of times, in either case 
bridgeless. Our halt was at Bunker Hill, on the pike between 
Martinsburg and Winchester. Here we met the forces which 
had crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, the Twelfth and 
Sixteenth Indiana being among them. 

The next day we marched up within about four miles of 
Winchester and encamped, in a grove east of the pike. The 
enemy was reported to be at Winchester with a large army. 
That was what our papers said. Whether our commanding 
general had any other or more authentic information the 
judgment day may reveal. The wagons came up and we 
pitched tents as usual, providing ourselves liberallv with straw 
and other comforts. The forces were not as much as placed 
in order of battle. Late the next morning — a bright, mild 
spring niorning — a line of battle was leisurely formed, and we 
advanced slowly, over the open, level country, toward the 
city. We could see a long distance ahead. Xo enemy came 
in view. Still, the line-of-battle order was maintained. Fre- 
quent halts were necessary to correct the alignment and wind 
the men. At length we arrived at the city. Not a gun had 
been tired. Not a rebel soldier had been sighted. We had been 
fifteen days coming from Harper's Ferry — twenty-five miles. 
A characteristic incident is on record concerning this advance. 
The leader of one of the columns that were see-sawing along, 
on different roads, discovered ahead of him what he decided 
was a strongly-posted, formidable enemy. He did two things 
promptly : Order his artillery to the front and send back for 
reinforcements ! A shot or two from the artillery developed 
the fact that the supposed enemy was a company of people 
(mostly darkies) threshing, wheat out in an open field, with a 
horse-power machine. 

The fortifications at Winchester, which had been reported 
so extensive, amounted to very little. In any time of danger, 
after the spring of 18G3, one regiment of our army would have 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 103 

thrown up more formidable defences in a single night. There 
was a half-finished earthwork on the ridge, northwest of the 
city, and some other evidences of a plan to defend the place. 
Numerous round shot and shells were scattered through the 
abandoned rebel camps. Different ones of our boys were 
accused of putting twelve or twenty-pounders in their knap- 
sacks, "To keep until they came home," as it was said. The 
papers for these assertions have not been produced, however. 
As a fact, a member of the regiment did appropriate a six- 
inch, unexploded shell to set his camp kettle on, while cooking 
beans. The vision of the camp kettle sailing through the air 
and pieces of shell gyrating around promiscuously was the first 
inkling he seemed to get that a loaded shell was not the 
proper thing to use about a fire. 

When it was found that no enemy was to be encountered 
at Winchester the troops dispersed to different camping places. 
As we were marching past a Pennsylvania fegiment, an 
officer jumped down from the fence, upon which he was sitting, 
and running impetuously up to Captain Kopp, gave him a 
pocket knife. He said the knife had been given him for his 
homeliness and if he found a man homelier than himself he was 
to give it to him. He thought Captain Kopp justly entitled 
to the prize. The captain had a very prominent nasal organ 
and somewhat rough, angular features, but, by most persons, 
was not considered particularly homely. Still, he accepted 
the knife with the best of grace. This was also one of the 
times Lieutenant Van Buskirk attracted a great deal of atten- 
tion. Some of the troops concentrated at Winchester had not 
seen much of each other. As the regiment marched down the 
pike, passing other regiments, the men came running in 
droves to see our big lieutenant. 

We established our camp at the railroad cut, in the north- 
ern limits of the city, and settled down to regular camp life 
again. Within a day or two we were furnished new, dress 
uniforms, including tight-bodied, long-tailed coats, with high 
stiff collars. This was much like a farmer putting on a fine 
beaver overcoat when spring work begins. The warm weather 
was at hand, and if the army ever hoped to do anything, 
it must be now. But we accepted the dress coats like little 
men. The presumption is that we did not see the glaring folly 
of the thing, at the time, any better than others. As a matter 
of fact, we wore those heavy coats through the entire sum- 



104 HISTORY OF THE 

mer, in all its heat and dust, on all our long marches; then, in 
the Fall, exchanged them for the light-weight, loose fitting 
blouses, which constituted the regulation coat for soldiers in 
the field, until the end of the war. The ten days at Win- 
chester were quite uneventful, in most outward respects. The 
inevitable camp guard and furnishing safeguards for rebel 
homes and property, constituted the staple element of duty. 
A considerable squad of rebel prisoners, captured by scouting 
parties, and marched near our camp on the way to the rear, 
greatly excited our interest. They were the first rebel soldiers 
we saw. Several other Indiana regiments being in the vicin- 
ity, gave many of our boys the opportunity of visiting with 
relatives or acquaintances. The Twelfth and Sixteenth regi- 
ments had been under l?anks when we joined his command. 
The Seventh, Thirteenth and Fourteenth had now come over 
with Shield's division, from west of the mountains. 

Our Surgeon Johnson, while at Winchester, obtained the 
mounted skeleton of one of John Brown's sons, killed at 
Harper's Ferry. It was afterward fully identified, and returned 
to the family, to find kindly interment in the North. It had 
been exposed in a doctor's office in Winchester, serving the 
double purpose of an anatomical specimen and an awful 
example of the fate of abolitionists. This was much vaunted 
''Soutliern Chivalry." 

It was during this period that an advanced step was 
taken in the organization of the army, namely, the formation 
of corps. It had not been done before, but has since been the 
unvarying custom in the United States army. The troops un- 
der General Banks were designated as the Fifth Army Corps. 

A point concerning this reorganization well worthy of 
note here is that Brig. -Gen. A. S. Williams was made the 
commander of the First Division (of whicli the Twenty- 
seventh formeda part) — our brigade remaining the Second, 
as before. This was the beginning of a long and most sat- 
isfactory relation between the Twenty-seventh and General 
Williams. He continued as our division commander, when 
not commanding the corps, until our muster out. His name 
will appear again and again in this narrative. From the start 
we had reason to respect him for his evident abilities and 
personal worth. Before the end we learned to venerate and 
love him, both as a great soldier and a great-hearted gentle- 
man. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 105 

But a fact of contrary import to the Twenty-seventh 
■was also a part of this reorganization. This was a change in 
brigade commanders. General Hamilton was sent elsewhere, 
and Col. George H. Gordon, Second Massachusetts Volun- 
teers, was put in command of our brigade. To facilitate this, 
the Second was brought into the brigade and the Ninth New 
York taken out. We were sorry to lose the Ninth. They 
■were as different from us as men of the same language and 
nationality could be ; but the members of the two regiments 
became warm friends, and whenever we met the Ninth 
after this, as we occasionally did, there was a liberal exchange 
of kindly sentiments. The number of this regiment was 
•changed later on to the Eighty-third New York. 




BiuG. Gen. A. S. Williams. 

As to the Second Massachusetts, it required time for them 
and the men of the Twenty-seventh to understand one 
-another or to appreciate each other's virtues, l^oth parties 
-were evidently to blame for this. The trouble was mostly 
chargeable to the sectional and provincial state of the country, 
previous to the war of the Rebellion, so strongly in contrast 
with its present broad national character, which was one of 
the inestimable benefits of that war. Because of the numerous 
and prominent characteristics observable in the other, so differ- 
ent from what they had been accustomed, the members of each 
regiment jumped to the foolish and mischievous conclusion that 
the other was deserving only of jibes and ridicule. It seemed 
:to the members of the Twenty-seventh that those of the Sec- 



106 HISTORY OF THE 

ond rather led off and forced this issue ; that, if nothing more,. 
they were forward in exhibiting a certain air of contemptu- 
ous superiority that was very exasperating ; but it may have 
seemed the reverse to them. 

However, the two regiment, were kept together. They 
were forced to take each other for better or for worse. What- 
ever there was in two and a half years of arduous service, 
with its ever-recurring mutual deprivations, dangers and 
losses, as well as its opportunities and achievements, to tone 
down asperities, develop lofty sentiments and cement friend- 
ships, they had the benefit of, in full. The result was that, as 
far as the two organizations, especially the rank and file, were 
concerned, they parted in very diflPerent states of mind, with 
respect to each other, from what had been true in their earlier 
association. In the estimation of the Twenty-seventh the 
Second Massachusetts now occupies something of the same 
ground often held by near relations. If we reserve the right 
to criticize or find fault with them occasionally ourselves, an 
outsider would get himself into trouble very cjuickly if he 
ventured to do so, in any respect whatever. 

As for Gordon, a stalking pestilence would have been 
better for the Twenty-seventh. lie was a graduate of West 
Point, a bright, sprightly officer, who would attract favorable 
notice among strangers anywhere, and few men could make 
themselves more agreeable than he could when he wanted to. 
But there was probably no other brigade commander in the 
army — certainly not with his education and experience — so 
narrow and bigoted in his prejudices, so circumscribed and 
illiberal in his sympathies, and so utterly incapable of being 
just or of seeing things in their right light, where other parties 
were concerned. This was largely the result of his towering 
vanity and egotism. He was so supremely " stuck on him- 
self," as the present phrase goes, that he could not be respect- 
ful to superiors, considerate of subordinates, or learn anything 
from anybody. In practical common sense, also, he was as 
much lacking as he was in moral principle. He had as little 
conception of what men could stand, or what it was just to 
require of them, as he cared what became of them. Qiiick 
and violent in temper, erratic and whimsical in his prefer- 
ences, tyrannical and overbearing, as all egotistical and selfish 
persons are, he was wholly unfit for any command in the 
army. What ironv of fate it was that placed this regiment of 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 



107 



thorouglily true-hearted young men, from the homes and Hre- 
sides of Indiana, under such an exception of a person, giving 
him the opportunity to reward their devotion to country with 
such studied abuse, such needless sacrifice of their lives, and 
such aspersions of their reputations, is one of the mysteries of 
human existence. Unhappily, he will require further notice 
as tills narrative proceeds. He has really left nothing on 
record as disrespectful and defamatory of the Twenty-seventh 
as he has of General Banks, Governor Andrew and even of 
President Lincoln, but they were in a better position to 
stand it. 




W. T. Douglas, Co. I. 

(Killed at Antietam.) 



Ci I API- A IN T. A. Whitted, 



CHAPTER IX. 



BULL RUN AND MANASSAS. 

^L'irch 22, we left Winchester, cutting across the fields 
from our camp to the pike running east. Nobody seemed to 
know what our destination was, or to care much about it. 
Most of the regiments of our division, at least, were in the 





Gen. C. S. Hamilton, 
(1st Commander of our Brigade.) 



Gex. Geoiu;e IL Gordon, 

(From a photograi)h kept since the war 

by Capt. Williams.) 



column. We jogged along in a lazy, good-humored way, and 
only made fifteen miles, crossing the Opequan and passing 
through Berry ville, both names, with others in the Valley, de- 
stined to become forever linked with the name and fame of 
Gen. Phil. Sheridan. Our camp that night was in a grove 
a little west of the Shenandoah river. We first stopped rather 
early in the afternoon, on the south side of the pike and later, 



TWENTV-SEVENTir INIMAXA. 109" 

for some reason now unknown, moved fartlier on and to the 
north of the pike. Durini^ the first stop the colonel unearthed 
a shrewd scheme of some of the men who had been foraging, 
and by iv master stroke the next morning, he made an end of 
the Gosport money episode. 

The Colonel must have heard, in some way, of some of his 
men being accused of foraging, which at this period was con- 
sidered very naughty indeed. A guard line w^as established 
around the camp with the strictest orders to arrest any one 
having anything in his possession that might have been for- 
aged. For awhile, nothing out of the w-ay was discovered. 
ISIen were going out and coming back with various lawful 
and useful articles, but none seemed to have anything that 
was contraband. Among other things carried in, were num- 
erous bundles of straw. They all appeared innocent enough 
and would undeniably improve a soldier's cheerless bed. At 
length, the Colonel betliought him to inspect some of these 
bundles, and the first one he lighted upon contained live 
chickens. Others revealed like returns, until the Colonel had 
enough to thsome eatables to supply a feast. 

With reference to the Gosport money, the Colonel had 
evidently been on the lookout for the arrival of a fresh supply 
from Indiana. The chaplain, or some one else conversant with 
the regimental mail, may have given him a hint. At all 
events, a considerable '"wad" of this species of bogus money 
arrived in the mail which overtook us here. The company in 
which it was received went on picket that night. The next 
morning, just at the time when the pickets were to start to 
camp, who should appear at the headquarters of the reserve 
but Colonel Colgrove. When the entire company was assem- 
bled, the Colonel demanded the package of so-called money. 
When it was not forthcoming, he proceeded to search for it. 
lie did not find it, but without breaking ranks, or giving the 
men a chance to get anything beyond what tiiey already had 
about them, he gave the cominand "Right face, forward 
march," and kept all the men under his eye until the regiment 
was rejoined. The fact was that the one who had the custody 
of the inisigned Gosport bills had deftly parted with them when 
he saw he was going to be searched, securely hiding them from 
the sharp eyes of the Colonel. But having no opportunity to 
possess himself of them again, they were left to moulder and 
decay where he had placed them. That closed up that deal. 



110 HISTORY OF THE 

The next morning we crossed the Shenandoah on a tem- 
porary trestle bridge, erected by the engineers, and began the 
ascent of the Blue Ridge. This road crosses that mountain 
range through Snickers gap. Our regiment was barely over 
the river when one of tiie piers of the bridge gave way, cut- 
ting off those following. We halted where we were on the 
mountain side, for the bridge to be repaired. Waiting is 
always tedious, but the boys played ball, perpetrated practical 
jokes, etc., to pass away the time. During this interval we 
heard canonnading in the direction of Winchester, but had 
little thought as to the cause of it. After some hours we 
finallv started on, crossing over the mountain and pitching 
our tents on the eastern side, close to Snickersville. 

Early next morning we began to retrace our steps. The 
cannonading we had heard, while waiting the day before, was 
a battle known in history as the First battle of Winchester, or 
Battle of Kearnstown. There was now a hasty reversal of 
plans. We moved back towards Winchester much more ener- 
getically than we had gone away from it. Our friends of 
Shields' division had really defeated the enemy signally, before 
we knew of the engagement, and we were not needed. Still, 
we were going, and were destined to serve in the Valley for 
the present. 

The balance of the brigade went directly on to Win- 
chester and thence in pursuit of the retreating rebels, but the 
Twenty-seventh, with a section of Best's battery, lialted at 
Berryville. We remained there, quartered in dift'erent aban- 
doned buildings of the town, for four days. This was an 
event in our history. Away from the rest of the army, we 
were lords of all we surveyed. We had the whole town and 
country to ourselves. Berryville is a county seat, and, before 
the war, had about a thousand people. It was rather com- 
pactly built, with more evidences of wealth and culture than 
was then common in places of its size. A goodly proportion 
of the people were originally from the North, but, almost 
without exception, were now intensely disloyal. We kept 
vigilant pickets on the outskirts, night and day ; otherwise we 
enjoyed the freedom of the town. The people who were 
at home were mostly courteous and sociable ; some were 
friendly. 

The proprietor of a newspaper had run otV and left his 
oflice. Troops there before us had distressed it somewhat, 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. Ill 

but a "staff" was organized and a daily paper was started. 
It would be hard to mention a branch of business at which 
experienced men could not have been found in any regiment 
in the Union army. Among others, we had several expert 
compositors and printers and some who had trained slightly at 
straddling theeditorial tripod. Our daily was called TIic Haver- 
sack. John Crose (quartermaster sergeant) and W. W. Daugh- 
erty (sergeant major) were the editors-in chief, with a large 
corps of contributors. John Rankin and J. X. McCowen 
were the responsible printers and publishers. Pretty much 
the entire regiment was a self-appointed advisory committee. 
That is, they could and did all give advice freely (in two 
senses), with reasonable certainty that none of it would be 
taken. All the numbers of the paper are still preserved 
among the curiosities of some of our members. Comrade 
Crose, in particular, had them sacredly filed away, and 
though all were permitted freely to see them while he lived, 
no inducement would secure his consent to part with them. 
He has now lelt them as a part of his legacy to his family, the 
priceless element of which is his good name as a man and the 
spotless record of his faithful and unselfish service in the 
Twenty-seventh. 

Another thing transpired at Berryville whicli it is par- 
ticularly pleasant (after the intervening years) to chronicle. 
This was the presentation of a sword to Colonel Colgrove by 
the other commissioned officers. The sword had been ordered 
a good w^hile before this, but did not arrive until now. It was 
a charming thing, a real Damascus blade, with a most elab- 
orate and ornate hilt and scabbard. The presentation speech 
was made by Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison, and responded to 
by Colonel Colgrove. It is to be regretted that no permanent 
record of the subject matter of either address seems to have 
been preserved. The impressions made by the occasion are 
still very distinct. 

For three successive days The Haversack appeared, and 
then — it was not. Its editors, publishers and patrons all had 
business elsewhere. It fell to the Tw'enty-seventh to guard a 
supply train to Manassas Junction and back. The Colonel 
now says there were 2.800 wagons in this train. There may 
have been that many or ten times more, for all any one in the 
regiment knew, unless he was told. We had no chance to 
count them. We saw neither the head nor tail of the train at 



112 HISTORY OF THE 

any one time. It was passing through Berry ville long before- 
any of us were up and, like Tennyson's Brook, it '• went on 
forever." 

From Berrvville to Manassas, via Chantilly and Center- 
ville, is sixty odd miles. The train made the entire distance 
in two days, and we would have done the same if there had 
been any way of crossing Bull Run. We started March 28> 
crossed the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge at the same places 
we had crossed them a few days previously, and camped for 
the night at Aldie. The distance was only twenty-eight 
miles, yet there was the most straggling the Twenty-seventh 
was ever guilty of after it learned to march at all. We were 
too heavily laden ; but the main trouble must have been the 
crossing of the mountain. That pass is very high, and the 
descent was, if possible, more wearisome than the ascent. It 
seemed physically impossible for large numbers of the men to 
keep their places in the ranks the latter part of the day. 

A good soldier, or a person who has much ambition, will 
soon abandon the habit of straggling, unless positively unable 
to do otherwise. For one thing, the company that one tinds 
himself in is not congenial to a spirited soldier. The w'eak- 
willed, doless class, and the constitutional play-offs are always 
in the majority in the rear. Besides this, a man soon learns 
that the gain by straggling is largely delusive. The same 
distance has to be gone over any way, and it very seldom hap- 
pens that a soldier cannot get over the distance easier in the 
ranks of his company, hard as it may seem, than in any other 
way. The difficulty of regaining one's place in the ranks, 
after once dropping out, even for a little while, was doubtless 
surprising to all who ever tried it. 

The second day, we marched farther with verv little 
straggling. It snowed all the fore part of that day and rained 
the after part. We arrived at Bull Run at dusk. There was 
no bridge, the foot-logs were afloat and the water was too 
deep to wade. While we were vainly working with the foot 
logs, to put them in place, darkness came on, black as hades, 
and there seemed nothing for us to do but spend the night 
where we w^ere. The ground was low and marshy — a mere 
creek bottom — while the snow and rain falling all day had 
rendered it impossible to find anything that was dry. We 
managed, after infinite difficulty, to get small fires kindled to 
warm our shivering selves by, and cook a little something for 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 1]3 

supper. When our wagons came up, we pitched our tents 
promiscuously, on the best ground to be had. Any kind of 
brush, limbs or timber available, was spread out to keep our 
bodies up above the water and off of the wet ground. Even 
then, the Run having overflowed the bottom still more during 
the night, many found themselves lying in water in the morn- 
ing. We shall always remember that night as among the 
very worst ones. 

The next morning the Colonel heard more than he was 
expecting, for once. As he was passing through the camp he 
spied a musket laying on the ground. Immediately, he in- 
quired savagely, " Whose gun is this?" "Mine," promptly 
and with asperity in his voice, answered a man, hugging a 
small fire nearby. "Well," continued the Colonel, " you're 
a fine soldier, to let your gun lay out here all night!" 
" Colonel," said the man, " that d — d old gun is no better than 
I am, and I had to lie out there all night myself." That 
was a poser. Amid some illy suppressed merriment among the 
men, the Colonel gave his nose a vigorous pull and passed on. 

On the ridges between Bull Run and Centerville were 
hundreds of log huts, some of them still covered with clap- 
boards, in which soldiers of the rebel army had spent the winter. 
It was a current tradition in the regiment afterw'ards that 
some of our men, by stealing away that night, to seek warmth 
and shelter in those huts, had introduced the festive greyback 
among us. 

Certain it is that, very soon after this, he was with us 
numerously; there were millions of him. And he was a stay- 
er. If not " a friend" he was a something "that sticketh 
closer than a brother." At first we were all inclined to keep 
him entirely to ourselves; we carefully concealed his presence 
from our most intnnate friends. But " murder will out ; " it 
was not long until it was one of the commonest things, to see 
proud, dignified men, without turning aside or saying " by you 
leave," haul their shirts over their heads, turn them inside out 
and begin to search for the pesky intruder. It has been well 
said that " the soldier who boasted that he had no occasion to 
do such a thing, never did much towards suppressing the re- 
bellion." 

But while the Johnnies did give us some things, at differ- 
ent times, to remember them by, it is perhaps an over state- 
ment of fact to say that they gave us our first stock of grey- 

8 



114 



HISTORY OK THE 



backs. The spring was well advanced when we were at Bull 
Run; shortly after that the warm, summer weather was upon 
us. What was even more in point, we were becoming more and 
more active. Our periods of rest and opportunities for wash- 
ing our persons or our clothing, were becoming fewer and 
farther between. Under such conditions the greyback needed 
no "introduction." LikeTopsy, he " jes growed." Besides, it 
is part of a record, made at the time, that two men in one of 
our companies were found to have grey backs upon them 
while at Hoosier City. In consequence, they were forced to 
burn all their clothinsf. 



Atf^ 




About the size he seemed to he when chawlixg 

DOWN one's spine. 

During the forenoon we leisurely transferred our camp 
to the higher ground on the south side of the Run. Tlie sun 
eventually came out brightly and all things assumed a differ- 
ent aspect. 

Anywhere here we were upon historic ground. The 
name of this little creek, scarcely two rods wide and but a few 
miles long, winding down through a barren, uninviting coun- 
try, had been heralded around the world. The first great clash 
of arms between the champions of Union and freedom and 
those who stood for secession and rebellion, in the interest of 
human slavery, had occurred right here. The very soil of 
the swamp, upon which we had spent a cheerless night, had 
been hallowed by the priceless blood of patriots. Though the 
hottest of the contest was further up the Run, it really began 
at this crossing, Blackburn's ford. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA.' 115 

Many of the re<jiment looked over parts of the battlefield 
with but little satisfaction, as, from lack of guides or maps, 
nothing was known as to the positions of the forces engaged. 
The shallow graves where the brave dead had found scanty 
burial, many of them, had been partially opened, by some 
species of brutes, either having two or four legs. Parts of hu- 
man skeletons were to be seen in many places. In one place 
were several human skeletons under a pile of brush ; there 
was nothing to indicate that they had ever been covered with 
earth. 

The country was dotted everywhere with the carcasses of 
dead horses. As it had been eight months since the battle, 
we supposed that the horses had mostly been killed afterwards, 
by hard usage. 

The defenses about Centreville and Manassas, while of 
considerable magnitude, had, as all the world knows now, 
been greatly overestimated. We saw the veritable " Quaker 
Guns," that is, logs of wood shaped like cannon, with which 
the rebels had terrorized our authorities for so long. 

After passing one night on the south bank of Bull Run 
we moved on to Manassas Junction, three miles. This was 
also a place of world-wide notoriety, made so by the war. 
It was then really no town, scarcely a hamlet. Besides being 
the headquarters of the rebel army during the battle and 
giving its name to the battle itself, in their vocabulary, it had 
been their principal depot of supplies up to its evacuation, less 
than a month before our visit. In abandoning it the enemy 
had evidently destroyed much property of value. There was 
evidences of this everywhere. Here, too, as at Winchester, 
were a great many loaded shells, scattered around. The boys, 
having learned their true character by this time, amused them- 
selves by exploding them to hear them roar and see their 
pieces fly through the air. 

One night was all that was allowed us at Manassas, then 
we started on the return. The supply train, going back 
empty, at least in part, wagons were detailed to haul out 
knapsacks. That was a delightful help. We made Aldie the 
first day with ease, camping on the same ground we had occu- 
pied four nights before. The next night found us over the 
mountain and across the Shenandoah, in the camp we had 
used ten days before, the first night after leaving Winchester. 
We did not stop at Berryville, but passed through and on to 



IIG HISTORY OF THE 

Winchester, camping a mile south of that place, near a small 
mill, some distance east of the pike. This last was not a full 
day's march. We could easily have gone eight or ten miles 
further. It was a bright, clear day and warm even to enerva- 
tion. Yet the next morning the ground was covered with 
snow. Not because of the snow, but for a more agreeable rea- 
son, we remained in camp all that day. The paymaster came 
again and gave us two months' pay. 

Money never seemed to do us as much good as when we 
were active. There was little chance then for the camp fol- 
lowing peddlers and the gamblers to get in their work. Later 
in the day some of the boys went back to the city on pur- 
chasing errands. Others went to visit the wounded in the 
hospitals, victims of the recent battle. Still others visited the 
battlefield. Both of these last items were of particular inter- 
est to us, because of the large number of Indiana soldiers 
engaged in the battle and the splendid manner in which they 
had acquitted themselves. The Seventh, Thirteenth and 
Fourteenth, composed largely of neighbors and friends of our 
regiment, had, by their impetuous gallantry, reflected great 
credit upon our noble Hoosier state. The Twenty-seventh 
boys always became an inch or two taller whenever any one 
of the regiments from our state serving in the Eastern arniy 
was mentioned favorably. 



CHAPTER X. 



IP THE SHENANDOAH. 

On April 0th, the Twenty-seventh started from Winches- 
ter to join the army which was pushing its way " up " the 




Sergt. J. F, NOSLER, Co. 1. 

(Showing our second uniform.) 

Shenandoah Valley. This valley runs north and south, but, 
curiously, south is "up the valley" and north is ''down the 
valley," in the phraseology of the people living there. 

A march of fiftv miles or so had come to be looked upon 



118 



HISTORY OF THE 



as nothing :imong us now. It was a current saying in the 
regiment, about this time, that the Virginia turnpikes were 
almost worn out, but we were as good as new. The first 
night on this march we camped at the bridge over Cedar 
creek, which gave its name afterwards to one of Sheridan's 
battles. The second night we camped south of Woodstock, 
near an unusually high railroad bridge. A march of a few 
miles on the third day brought us up with our army, lying 
behind Stoney creek, north of Edenburg. It snowed and 
rained in turn that day. We marched on past the camps of 
all the infantry and located our's in an open field near the 
little stream, beyond which the enemy enjoyed the freedom 
of the country. 

W^e were all right that day, and felt as happy as larks, 
but next day, without any previous warning, we heard 
the boom of cannon, and shells began to drop in our midst. 
The second shell that came struck m a tent where a game of 
cards was in progress. No one in the tent was hit, but all of 
them might as well have been. They were scared to death — 
nearly. This shelling caused as much excitement in the 
Twenty-seventh as there is among the small boys of a village 
when a circus procession unexpectedly turns the corner and 
starts down the main street. In far less time than it can be 
told every man was out of his tent, and hundreds were shout- 
ing : " Lay down ! " " Hit him again ! " " More of it! " etc., 
etc. But none of the shells exploded and no one was hurt. 
A Union battery, already in position on the opposite side of the 
pike from us, began firing within a few minutes, and less than a 
dozen shots from them were enough to silence the rebel battery. 

Our sutler's tent happened to be on the side of the camp 
next to the enemy. Money being plenty in the regiment 
trade was active. But even with old Cahn, business counted 
for nothing in the midst of flying shells. When the first shell 
came whistling along and dropped down ker-chug, a few rods 
away, he rushed up to Ilep. his clerk, and fairly roared : " Hep, 
Hep, you d — d old fool! Vat for you always bitch dis dent 
vere de schells goome.^ " Then he broke out of the tent, 
mopping his florid face and bald head as if it was July. Hep 
followed him with some apparent concern, and said in his slow 
drawl : '" Cahn, better as you goome back in der dent ; you git 
killed oud dere." The ridiculousness of the situation seemed 
just then to come to Cahn, and he turned and went back. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 119 

We had some desperately foul weather while at this place. 
There was rain and snow, and a mixture of both. We fell in 
line, in such weather, to hear of the great victory at Pittsburg 
Landing, announced in special orders. The Western troops, 
in the Eastern army found great pride and joy in the fact that 
these brilliant achievements were accomplished by their own 
kith and kin. 

April 17, we were up at 1 a. m. under orders to march, 
and started at daylight. This was really the first day we had 
seen in tiie service that seemed to count for something towards 
crushing the rebellion. Particularly in the forenoon, there was 
a decided show of energy. Our advance was vigorous. 
Shields' division was leading. The enemy was hustled along 
unceremoniously. Cannonading was often brisk, with occa- 
sional rounds of musketry, though the Twenty-seven was 
given no chance to participate. All bridges, even small cul- 
verts, were found on fire. But our men, in almost every case, 
were in such close pursuit as to put the fire out before much 
damage was done. This wa,^ even true of the long wooden 
bridge over the North Fork of the Shenandoah, at Mt. Jackson. 
Numerous railroad cars and other property was burned there, 
but the bridge was saved. If the plank had not been removed 
the men left behind to fire it would have been captured. 

The rebels had erected several large hospital buildings at 
'Sit. Jackson. It appeared to be an ideal place for sick and 
wounded to recover and recuperate, but only those badly 
wounded or seriously ill had remained to fall into our hands. 

A mile or two south of Mt. Jackson the pike passes over 
quite an abrupt ridge, and there the rebels made a show of 
fight. Our brigade and a brigade of Shields' division were, 
therefore, detached for a flank movement. Turning square to 
the right in Mt. Jackson, about a mile back we struck a dirt 
road leading south parallel with the pike. It was rough and 
hilly, however, and in places it was boggy. The sun came 
out bright and strong, so that the weather was oppressive. 
The men of the other brigade, though nominally leading us, 
straggled shamefully, and were soon mostly behind us. If 
we straggled any we had the advantage of having no organ- 
ized body of troops following us to report our conduct. Our 
progress was undoubtedly slow, as it was laborious and ex- 
haustive. The artillerv and ammunition wagons stalled in 



120 



HISTORY OF THE 



many places, and had to be pulled out of mud-holes and up 
steep hills by hand. 

Darkness finally overtook us before we had regained the 
pike, and we stopped and spent the night, almost without 
shelter or food. The next morning we found we had to ford 
the North Fork of the Shenandoah. It was about one hundred 
yards wide and waist deep. The current was swift and the 
water ice-cold, really melted snow. It had only been three 
days since we had had several inches of snow, and plenty of it 
was yet to be found in the glens and shady places. It tried 
our grit considerably to plunge in under such conditions, but 
the members of the Twenty--<eventh were all soon safely over. 




Bad Roads. 

Upon the suggestion of some long-headed person or persons 
an expedient was adopted in our regiment that greatly miti- 
gated the severity of the cold water. It was just time to dis- 
pense with drawers anyway, so by taking off our pants we had 
them to put on dry after we were over, while the drawers 
tempered the water ci)nsiderably, and, on the other side, we 
took them off and threw them away. Some remarks have 
been made about the appearance of the Twenty-seventh while 
thus attired for wading, but we do not care for that. 

Just when we were preparing ourselves for the plunge, 
several members of another regiment came around a bend in 
the river, on a raft. Some distance above the ford was a saw- 
mill, and they had gone there and prepared that contrivance, 
upon which they hoped to cross dry-shod. They had probably 
lost their poles by having them caught under the raft, for 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 121 

when they came in sight they had nothing whatever to propel 
the raft with and were drifting helplessly with the rushing 
current. Tvlost of them were standing with their knapsacks 
and other e(|uipments all on and their guns in their hands. In 
response to our laughter and cheers, they danced and swung 
their caps in the highest glee. Just as they were opposite us 
the raft ran plump against an immense rock. The concussion 
not only threw the men off, but pitched them violently a rod 
or more, heels over head. Such a confuted mass of flounder- 
ing, gasping humanity as was there for awhile! Heads, legs, 
arms, knapsacks and coat-tails appeared above the water in 
turn. Some of the men might have been drowned, but 
nobod}^ appeared to think of that at all. It was so extremely 
ludicrous that everybody seemed to see only the funny side of 
it. After a while, though, the men all managed to gain a 
footing and stood up in the cold water, most effectually 
drenched. Their guns, caps and everything else not strapped 
to them were gone. Whether they ever recovered them or not 
we did not learn. 

We arrived at New Market before noon. The balance of 
the troops were halted there and we encamped a half mile 
south of town. It was two or three days before the wagons 
came up with our tents ; until they did, we sheltered ourselves, 
as usual under such circumstances, by leaning rails against 
something and covering them wUh straw, rubber blankets, etc. 
The weather was something the same here as while we were at 
Edenburg. Rain and snow contended with each other for 
supremacy, with the odds perhaps a little more in favor of 
the rain. New Market was a clean, bright looking town (if 
one was not too close to it), and the country about it was the 
finest we saw in Dixie. There were wheat fields there that 
would delight the heart of any farmer. We drew flour for our 
rati(;n of bread which, if not desirable, was certainly appro- 
priate, and, as it seems, was the last flour ever issued to the 
Twenty-seventh. 

April 25, we advanced to Harrisonburg, eighteen miles. 
As we marched along the ground was again covered with snow. 
The enemy ofiered no resistance. Our camp at Harrisonburg 
••as again in an oak grove, on high ground, north of the city 
and east of the pike some distance. We remained there until 
May 4. In the interval our regiment, with others, went on a 
reconnoissancc as far as Cross Keys, eight miles, on the Stan- 



122 HISTORY OK THE 

ardsville road. There was also a picket station maintained, by 
a company at a time, at Mt. Crawford, live miles out, on the 
Staunton pike. Most of our companies had at least one turn 
there. The reserve headquarters were in an abandoned store 
building. 

We all remember the tine, ilowing sprinj:^ in the center of 
Harrisonburg. In other respects it was a sightly place to be 
in a slavery-ridden country. 

On May 5th, the army began a retrograde movement. 
That day we marched back as far as New Market. General 
Banks had not had his headquarters farther south than that 
point. This time at New Market, we camped north of the 
town. The next morning, before daylight, we started and 
crossed the mountains directly eastward of New Market. The 
ascent was very steep, as the gap was almost as high as the 
mountain itself. We reached the summit at sunrise, and the 
view was sublime. Even a man with a knapsack on his back, 
a musket in his hand and looking for somebody to shoot at, if 
not looking for somebody to shoot at him, could appreciate 
such a view. 

We were halted awhile and gazed at the wonderful 
panorama. Then we descended the mountain, on the eastern 
side, and bivouacked at its base. What our errand over the 
mountain was has never been very clear in our minds, if it 
ever was in anybody's. The next day we moved on some 
miles farther and halted, in a heavily wooded glen. The 
day was warm enough to make the shade grateful. We 
remained there until towards evening, apparently without 
anybody knowing what was to be done next. 

Suddenly a courier dashed up and said excitedly that the 
Thirteenth Indiana had been ambushed, and was being " all 
cut to pieces." For God's sake, we were to go and help them. 
If anybody ever acted promptly and energetically it must have 
been the Twenty-seventh at that time. We went without 
knapsacks or anything heavy, except guns and cartridge 
boxes. We did not go double-quick, we simply ran. The 
colonel's horse was on a smart trot the whole way, and often 
the colonel had to use his spurs freely to keep the men from 
getting ahead of him. The distance was three or four miles. 
On the way we met two of the Thirteenth bringing back a 
prisoner, but we did not stop to interrogate them. The pris- 
oner was hatless and very red in the face from running. As 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 128 

we passed him he shook his fist at us defiantly and swore, giv- 
ing us the usual chaff about what we would get a little further 
on. After a while we sighted the Thirteenth in the distance, 
upon which we formed in line on the crest of a hill, at the 
right of the road, and awaited their approach. They were 
falling back slowly and in good order, as though nothing had 
happened. They were not firing at anybody, nor was any- 
body firing at them. As near as we could understand, a force 
of rebel cavalry had made a dash at them, without other 
results than a temporary iUirry. We saw no. wounded. 

As we stood there in line, waiting for the Thirteenth to 
reach us, two very ludicrous incidents happened. In one of 
the companies was a lieutenant, a relic of the Mexican war, 
rather too old for such a run, besides he had sprained his ankle 
on the way. He was ambitious, however, and very excitable. 
In another company was a lieutenant who was almost blind. 
Both of these lieutenants had been left behind in the race. 
The lame one was the first to come up. He was going at a 
sort of a hop-step-and-jump gait, pufTing like an engine on a 
heavy grade. In one hand he held his pistol, while his arms 
were beating the air like the fans of a Dutch windmill. With- 
out appearing to notice in the least our quiet attitude, he ran 
up against the rear rank of his company, and, holding his pis- 
tol over between the heads of the men in the front rank, 
shouted with immense energy " Where are they, men, where 
are they ? Can I reach them with my pistol ? " 

The explosion following this incident had barely subsided 
when the lieutenant with the defective eyesight appeared, 
groping his way along, but evidently making the best time 
possible. He, too, had his pistol in one hand, or rather, 
in both; with one he held the breech and the other the barrel. 
When he sighted the regiment he shambled cautiously up in 
rear of his company and peered and squinted around, trying to 
make out what the situation was, without asking any ques- 
tions. Directly he said, to one of the sergeants in a stage 

whisper " F , come and help me get this darned thing 

down." As he had come along, he had thought to see if his 
pistol would work all right. But after he had cocked it he 
could not get the hammer down again. So he had to carry it 
along carefully, with both hands. These two incidents fur- 
nished the men something to laugh at for many a day. The 
trouble being over, we marched back where we started from 



124 



HISTORY OF THE 



and spent the night, and the next morning, recrossed the 
mountain to Xew Market. 

May 14, the army started back northward still farther. 
We marched that day to near Woodstock and the next, to near 
Strasburg. Our ilrst camp there was close to a spring, the 
water from which turned a mill a few rods below. On the 
17th, we moved our camp a mile south, near Fishers Hill, 
another point made historic by a battle, later on. At this 
time we learned that Shields' division and all the rest of Gen. 
Banks' comm ind, e.xcept two small brigades, ours and one 
other, had gone elsewhere. We therefore belonged to an army 
intended only for occupation, not aggression. It was hard 
for us to bear it with any cheerfulness; we wanted something 
to do and we could not see that our weakened condition gave 
abundant promise of it. 




Fall ix for Roll Call. 



The next day we began work on a system of defenses, 
which was wise. We also began various other things, which 
were otherwise. A record of the time says, '' Eight roll 
calls a day." It is strange, but nevertheless true, that 
officers who exhibit a fair degree of ability and competency 
in the field will resort to ill-advised and even mischievious 
measures the moment thev get into camp. It would perhaps 
not be too much to say that this characterized Eastern officers 
as a class. It seemed to be bred in the bone with them to 
want to make some kind of show or demonstration, when not 
required or permitted to do any thing else. They seemed to 
have a peculiar weakness for the " pomp and circumstance of 
war " and this showed itself prominently when in camp. 
It requires a share of common, horse sense, as well as military 
training and experience to cultivate and enforce dicipline in 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 



125 



camp, without at the same time breeding discontent and in- 
subordination. From this time until the 24tli we worked on 
the projected defenses some, did picket duty a good deal, 
drilled more (part brigade drill) and fretted and complained 
most of all. But this was not for long. It does not appear 
that any man of our army, in any station, knew aught of what 
was transpiring beyond our picket line. Still there was some- 
thing transpiring nevertheless, as we shall see. 

There was one part of this work of fortifying that the men of the Twenty-seventh w«re 
well qualified for and rather enjoyed. That was felling the timber and chopping it into 
prcipcr lengths. They had mostly had e.xperiences along that line. While a detail from the 
regiment was chopping down the trees near Fislior's Hill at this time the Major-general 
came up and e-xpressed great satisfaction at the facility and speed with which the work 
was being done. It was a surprise and delight to him in particiilar to witness four men 
chopping (m the same tree, at the same time. Two men chopped on each side of the tree 
one chopping right handed and the other left handed, and striking lick about. 




Joseph D. Laughlin, Co. B. 
(F'rom recent photograph.) 



John D. Laughlin, Co. B. 
(From recent photograph.) 



CHAPTER XI. 



BANKS' RETREAT. 

The somewhat precipitate movement of the army under 
General Banks out of the Shenandoah \"alley, in May, 18(32, 
is commonly referred to by the participants as " Banks' 
Retreat." It is sometimes called also "The Winchester 
Retreat." This movement reallv began at Strasburg', twenty 
miles beyond Winchester. The Twenty-seventh had marched 
over the road connecting the two places some weeks before. It 
is the same " Good, broad highway, leading down," on which 
the famous steed later in the war carried Sheridan, when 
" Twenty miles away." 

Authorities higher than General Banks were responsible 
for the blunder ; but a bad one it was when Banks' army, 
reduced to a skeleton, was halted at Strasburg with the view 
of defending itself and the country in its rear. It was pre- 
cisely like a man taking a stand on one of two roads beyond 
where they intersect, to watch for a foe which may approach 
on either of them. While he may guard successfully the one 
road, his enemy is liable to take the other, and attack him in 
the rear. Thus it happened that while Banks was making some 
tardy preparations to defend himself on the theory that Jack- 
son would come down the Shenandoah Valley, proper, that 
wily chieftain crossed the Massanutten range opposite New 
Market, through the same gap we had gone two weeks before, 
and moved swiftly down the Luray Valley, In that way he 
not only turned Banks' incomplete defences, but seized his rail- 
road and telegraph communications with Washington and, at 
the same time, had an even race with him for Winchester, 
through which Banks was obliged to pass if he desired to 
escape. In fact, the first that the Union general seems to 
have known of his antagonist was that the latter was in full 
possession of all of these advantages. 

In the afternoon of May 23d the few troops which Banks 
had felt himself able to spare for the defense of points in the 
Luray Valley, consisting mostly of guards for bridges, were 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 127 

attacked and routed. This was especially true of the force at 
Fort Royal, the most important of the points. 

However, the only troops in the Luray Valley with which 
this narrative has to do are those stationed at Buckton,a rail- 
road station six miles east of vStrasburg. Here Company B, 
of the Twenth-seventh, and Company G, of the Third Wis- 
consin, were guarding a bridge. They had been there but a 
few days and had prepared no defenses. Though scarcely 
expecting a formidable attack, they had been apprised that an 
active enemy was prowling in their vicinity. Two members 
of the Wisconsin company had been captured. For this reason 
Captain Hubbard had not absented himself, as he had been 
ordered to do, to consult with the proper authorities about the 
character of the defenses necessary at that point, but had sent 
his lieutenant instead. Captain Davis, on the contrary, came 
to the Twenty-seventh, at Strasburg, that morning. What 
his errand was does not appear of record. On his return in 
the afternoon he was captured by the enemy, and spent the 
summer and early fall in various rebel prisons. 

The bridge guarded by our men at Buckton spanned a 
small creek, which comes from a southerly direction and 
empties into the North Fork of the Shenandoah. The latter 
stream here runs east and west and the railroad follows its south 
bank. South of the railroad, bordering the creek on the east, 
was a wheatiield, and, beyond that, a large tract of timber. 
The camp of our company, B, was on this eastern, and, as it 
proved, most exposed side of the little stream, while the Wis- 
consin boys were camped upon the opposite side. 

About two in the afternoon. May 23d, almost without 
previous demonstration of any kind, it would seem, a force of 
rebel cavalry, numbering three or four hundred, debouched 
from the timber and started across the wheatfield directly 
towards the position of our soldiers. Nothing daunted, both 
of the companies promptly rallied in line, each near its own 
camp, and offered battle. As the advancing column came 
within range a sharp fire was poured into it, under which it 
soon dissolved and sought shelter, mostly by returning to the 
woods out of which it had come. 

During a short lull of hostilities which followed this first 
attack, it was wisely decided that our company should cross 
the creek and join the Wisconsin company. One of the 
reasons for this was that the enemy had showed a disposi- 



128 HISTORY OK THE 

tion to work his way along the bed of the creek, sheltered by- 
its banks and the bushes and briars growing upon them, thus 
getting between the two companies. Once over the creek, 
our company also took position behind the railroad and 
between it and the Shenandoah. The Wisconsin company 
did likewise, if it had not been there previously. Up to this 
time Company B had had little, if any, protection. The 
new position was an unusually good one. The railroad grade 
was high enough to form a good breast work, and with the 
river so close in the rear of our men, the enemy was obliged 
to make a front attack, if at all, over ground mostly open. 

Several such attacks were made, with greater or less 
determination and persistence. One, in particular, seems to 
have been well organized and spirited. The attacking column 
of mounted men charged across the wheatfield at a gallop, offi- 
cers riding ahead, swinging their swords and challenging their 
men to come on, while all yelled like demons. But tlie sturdy 
boys from Indiana and Wisconsin awaited them with trusty 
rifles and equally trusty nerves. At the command, firing began 
at one hundred yards range, and at the first crack of a gun, 
horses began to rear and fall headlong, or break away with 
empty saddles. A few of the more reckless dare-devils 
spurred their horses up near the railroad. This was the 
closest call our side had and the only time that their situation 
looked critical. It also practically closed the engagement. 
No considerable number of the enemy appeared in the open 
after this. 

During the progress of this skirmish volunteers were 
called for to carry a dispatch to the authorities at Strasburg. 
Hiram Kinneman, the teamster of Company B, was one to 
respond, and, swimming the Shenandoah on one of his mules, 
he was soon on the way. In response to this message the other 
companies of the Third Wisconsin marched promptly to Buck- 
ton, arriving there in the night, but not until after the enemy 
had apparently abandoned all effort to take the place. 

This was the first time any part of the Twenty-seventh 
faced the muskets of an enemy. We could scarcely have had 
better men to represent us than these bright, young farmers' 
sons from Daviess county. Though at some disadvantage at 
first, they exhibited undeniable evidence of possessing those 
two prime requisites of a soldier — pluck and discipline. The 
company lost nine wounded and eleven captured, these last 



rwKNTv-sKVKN'rii iNniAXA. 1:^9 

being either on picket or some distance away from the body 
of the company when the skirmish opened. 

On tlie morning of May 24, the force at Buckton w.is 
ordered to Strasburg. Company B loaded their wounded in a 
freight car and pushed it before them, arriving with the regi- 
ment barely in time to move with it toward Winchester. 

The rebels with which our men "argued the point"' at 
Buckton belonged to Ashby's command. He was a bold, 
intrepid cavalry leader, well known to both armies in the 
Valley of Virginia at this period. He was evidently a brainy, 
masterful man, who had gone into the rebellion with great 
enthusiasm. He rode a showy white horse, and most of the 
men in Banks' army had one or more views of him, from 
some advanced picket post or while on the skirmish line. 
Like many of those adventursome men on both sides, Ashby 
was killed early in the war — at the battle of Port Republic. 

The loss of the enemy at Buckton must have been con- 
siderable. Their reports state that they mat with "spirited' 
resistance, and claim that the Union detachment was finally 
"dispersed.'" The two Union companies did eventually 
abandon their position, but no enemy had been in sight Oy 
hearing for hours previous to their doing so. 

Corp. Henry L. Pittman, of Company B, has the credit 
among his comrades for a cool and desperate act at Buckton. 
The story is that he was on picket, at some distance from his 
company, when the first rebel charge was made. Escaping 
captu e, he was endeavoring to reach his command by a cir- 
cuitous route, but w^as sighted by a mounted rebel officer, who 
charged upon him. demanding his surrender. The officer 
must have imagined that Pittman's gun was empty. Luckily 
it was not, and when the officer was quite near, Pittman shot 
him dead. He then mounted the officer's horse and rode it 
into camp. There is a tradition among the members of Com- 
pany B that the officer was a Colonel Sheets. There was a 
Captain Sheets killed at this time, as was also a Captain 
Fletcher and possibly others. Stonewall Jackson in his re- 
port speaks very regretfullv of the loss of these officers. 

The main body of Gordon's brigade at Strasburg was 

called up before midnight of May 23. In obedience to orders 

we took down our tents, loaded the wagons, and were all 

ready to march. We had no more sleep that night. The 

writer, in common with most of the Twenty-seventh, did not 
9 



180 iiisioio ()!■ I UK 

have another wink of sleep until midnight or later the second 
night following — a period of over forty-eight hours — and at 
the end of a march of over sixty miles. 

It appears that Gordon had gone to General Banks that 
evening to urge him to start his army at once for Winchester; 
but Banks had a mind of Ins own. and declined to act upon 
Gordon's suggestions. Stung by this, Gordon resolved to 
arouse his own men anyway. He could hector them, if not 
others. It seems weak and grannyish enough to consign any 
officer to private life, if not to .infamy. ^ et Gordon blandly 
recounts the fact himself, as something to his credit. All the 
balance of Banks' command at Strasburg slept until morning. 
If. as Gordon claims. Banks did not decide to go to Winches- 
ter until a few minutes before the start was made, at 11 
o'clock or after, on the 24th, it is apparent how useless and 
heartless was the loss of sleep and wear and tear, Gordon 
inflicted upon his soldiers. 

The situation, substantially as it was, was circulated 
among us as a camp rumor soon after we were called up in 
the night. The fate of our men at Front Royal, the very 
superior force of the enemy, his vigorous advance towards 
Winchester, the probability that he might attack us at any 
])oint along the way, the moral certainty that we would soon 
confront him somewhere — all these facts, with oth.ers equally 
as accurate, were passed from lip to lip. Still we were 
incredulous. Such things were then hard to believe. In 
addition to our peaceful surroundings — the surpassing beauty 
and mildness of the May weather, the growing crops, the 
blooming trees and flowers — we had now been in the enemy's 
country so long and had met with so little resistance, we had 
about made up our minds that we were not going to meet 
with any, of a serious character. So many times before this 
we had supposed ourselves on the point of going into battle, 
only to find afterwards that there was very little, if anything, 
to base such a supposition upon, we had about concluded that 
we would never be called upon to fight. The prevailing opin- 
ion among us was that the disturbance was nothing more than 
a cavalry raid, or a feint by a small body of infantry, largely 
exaggerated by those concerned on our side. 

But we soon began to think difTerently. It was near 
noon before the column began to move. When we did start 
it was at a brisk pace. Moreover, as we passed through the 



TWKN TN -SK\ KN'I II INDIANA. 181 

town of Strasi)ut<j^. we saw many evidences of iiaste and alarm. 
Considerable government proju-rty of \ alue was being burned. 
A building that had been used as a warehouse was on fire, and 
meTi were engageil in setting fire to tents and other camp 
ecjuippage for which there was no transportation.. The far- 
ther we went the worse. All sorts of camp-followers and 
liangers-on about the armv were on the move, all in evident 
concern. 

The most jiathetic pari of the spectacle was the throng 
of colored people, of all ages and sizes and of both sexes — 
often whole families, from the gray haired, wrinkled par- 
ents down to the little pickaninny carried in arms — every- 
one able to walk loaded with bundles of various kinds and 
sizes, all eagerly pressing forward, their fear and consterna- 
tion plainly showing upon their ebony features. How it gave 
the lie to the ridiculous assertions heard even yet in the Nortb 
that the slaves were satisfied with their condition I 

The Twenty-seventh was in the rear of Gordon's brigade, 
and therefore tiie last regiment of infantry to leave Strasburg. 
\Ve had barelv crossed Cedar creek, where we saw a large 
guard fiom the Twentv-seventh on duty with the trains and 
commissary stores, when we came to a halt, because of those 
in front of us doing so. in a moment we started on again, 
but soon found that the infantry was turning into the fields 
and passing the wagons, which were standing still. Many 
have told of the signs of panic we encountered at this time. 
A good many stragglers had turned back, as well as some 
teamsters without, and a few with, their wagons. l>ut all of 
it was as notiiing compared with what we of the Twenty- 
seventh saw in the second attack on the train, later in the day. 
As we moved on now General Banks and staff, with orderlies 
and attaches — a large and showy, if not warlike, cavalcade, 
rode by us, going towards the point of supposed danger. 

It provetl that the force making this attack was not large, 
and fled on the approach of our infantry. A few shots only 
were exchanged with some of our leading regiments. The 
Twenty-seventh did not as much as get within hearing of the 
fray. 

Instead of waiting for the wagons to get ahead of the 
infantry again the column continued on, leaving them in the 
rear. There were a large number of them, occupying the road 
lor nearly fne miles in one stretch. 



132 inSTOKN Ol- IIIK 

When the infantry arrived near the village ot Newtown, 
couriers from the rear brought the word that there was now 
trouble in that quarter. Colonel Colgrove was therefore ordered 
to go back with his regiment and set things to rights. A 
lieutenant of Battery F, Fourth United States Artillery, with 
one section of his guns, was ordered to go with the Twenty- 
seventh. The regiment filed into a field on the west side of 
the pike, at a double-cjuick, and unslung knapsacks, piling 
them in winrows. It was expected, of cour-*e, that we would 
get them again, on our return. Alas! when we returned our 
route was some distance away, on the opposite side of the 
pike and it was not deemed prudent to bother about knap- 
sacks, so we never saw our knapsacks again. If we could 
have had a few articles out of them their loss might have been 
a blessing in disguise. But not only our blankets, woolen and 
rubber, our changes of underclothingand. in some instances, our 
food-supplies, were in them ; our reduced stores of keepsakes, 
pictures of sweethearts, handy mementos with which they and 
others had supplied us, the few treasured letters we had designed 
to presreve — all of our household gods, as it were — had beet) 
stored in them al^o. We have, therefore, always refused to 
be comforted. Our hearts beat heavily against our ribs even 
yet when we think of those uncircumcised Phillistines, the 
Johnnies, gloating over the contents of those knapsacks. By 
the w^ay, a member of the Twenty-seventh, who was himself 
captured the next day, was, a day or two later, taken to Stone- 
wall Jackson's headquarters; there he saw a large force of 
clerks busily engaged reading those letters and others obtaineti 
in a similiar way. They were doubtless searching for infor- 
mation that might benefit their cause. 

After ridding ourselves of our knapsacks the Twenty- 
seventh moved toward the rear of the train, on the run. As we 
approached the scene of trouble, more and more commotion was 
in evidence. The four and six-mule teams were all in a furious 
gallop, drivers were lashing with their whips, shouting and 
swearing like mad men, wagonmasters and other mounted 
men responsible for public property, were joining in the 
uproar and all were making a supreme effort to hurry them- 
selves, if not others, along towards a place of safety. 

Coming at length, if not to the end of the train, to a break 
in it, the Colonel formed the regiment in line of battle behind 
a fence on the left of the pike. This was close to two iniie> 



r W K N'l ^ -S K V K N TH I N I) I A N A . 



133 



80uth of Newtown. Beyond us a few rods was a. hirge farm 
bouse, on the opposite side of the roiid. Still farther on there 
was a turn in the road. While we were forming in this posi- 
tion several wagons, which were not in sight when we arrived 
there, came up the road and passed us. After we had been in 
position some time one more did likewise. The driver was 
sitting erect in the saddle, handling his whip with all the 
dexterity of his craft, and the mules were in a sweeping 
gallop. What had detained this one team so long, or from 
what conditions it had escaped, the driver did not pause to 
hint at. lie deserves mention as being one teamster in the 
war who did not desert hiN post at tlu> tirst sign of danger. 




A StA.M I'KDKI) \\ A(;().\ Pkaix. 



Colonel Colgrt)\e instructed the lieutenant commanding 
the artillery to halt in the road and await development.s-. He, 
however, preferred to unliinber and be ready for action, which 
he <lid. 

We had not wailed long before we saw dust rising down 
the pike, followed by some yelling, and this by the notes of a 
bugle. We could not make out the call sounded by the bugle, 
but supposed we were about to be charged upon by cavalry. 
As we stood at a " ready'" one lone horseman came in sight. 
We never felt satisfied whether this man was drunk or the 
\ictiin of some delusion. If he was in his right mind he must 
have supposed others were following him, or did not see the 



134 IIISIOKY OK I UK 

trap into which lie was rushing. lie roilc at a steady lopcv 
waving his sabre and cheering. We couUl easily see that he 
was a rebel officer, but when we saw tiiat he was alone an 
order was passed down the line not to shoot him. So he rode 
unmolested, plump up to our men on the pike. Halting and 
exchanging a word or two with those near him. he seemed to 
comprehend the situation. But, instead of surrendering, as he 
was ordered to do, and as every ilictate of reason demanded he 
should do, he reined his horse arountl. leaned forward upoti 
<its neck and started back. Instantly a man or two tired at 
him. then more, then rhore still, but all missed him. Then., 
witjiout orders, but by a common impulse, a large part of the 
right wing of the regiment Hred. in a well-timed volley, 
and one of the brass pieces was tired at the same moment. 
Poor man ! his was a bloody sacritice. for they all seemed to 
hit him. His body fell to the ground, a quivering mass, 
riddled with holes. His hor.>^e ran a short distance and 
stopped ; a little later it came back and was caught by mem- 
bers of the Twenty-seventh. 

Almost before the above incident wa.^ concluded we hearti 
the rumble of wheels and could occasionally see the heads of 
men beyond a rise of the ground, in the field directly in front 
of us. Before we had fairly time to think of what it might 
mean, a thin line of smoke shot up in the air. Our Colonel 
commanded •' Lay Down ! " and as each man fell deftly forward 
on his face, boom I went a cannon, followed instantly by a 
shell passing over us with the swish of an immense sky-rocket. 
Others followed in quick succession. Meanwhile we hugged 
the ground, as all .soldiers dp at such times. Adam's tairest, 
most bewitching daughter never received a clo.'^er, more ardent 
embrace than mother earth gets under such circumstances. 
The shells all passed harmlessly over us. though they seemed 
almost to graze our backs, some of them. The range was very 
short. It has always been the impression of the writer that 
we might have reached tiie rebel gunners Avith our muskets. 
It was here that some of the boys founil words to express the 
peculiar sounds made by a shell moving through the air. They 
said it seemed to them to say in hoarse whispers. "Where is 
he. where is her" 

Do you wonder about our own artillery.' Well, about 
the time the tirst rebel shot was fireil, the lieutenant com- 
manding our two pieces ga\e the order to limber up, and 



I W KN r\ -SK\K\ I H INDIANA. 185 

before any of us coinpiehendcil what his design was, the 
whole outfit went galloping to the rear. When our colonel 
saw them going he shouted after them, " Go to h — 1 Avith 
your pop-guns, they are no account anyway." We saw no 
inore of them that day. 

We continued flat on the ground, keeping a careful watch 
through the fence cracks, for a considerable period. The 
shells thrown at us were closely aimed, but few of them 
exploded. Those that did explode had their fuses cut too 
long, so the explosion occurred far to our rear. After giving 
ample time for all the wagons that had passed us to get 
entirely out of danger, the Colonel moved Company A to the 
opposite side of the pike and g ive the order for all to about 
face and proceed northward in line of battle. 

We learn from the rebel reports that two facts, natural 
enough in themselves, yet which need not have been as they 
were, had the effect of making our experience that afternoon 
very different indeed from what it would otherwise have been. 
One of these facts was that, when Jackson first struck the 
pike, upon which lianks' men were marching, he made the 
mistake of deciding that the main part of Banks' army had 
not yet passed that point. He therefore headed his main 
force southward, away from us, instead of northward, toward 
us. The other fact was that the small part of his army which 
Jackson did send toward us, consisting mainly of cavalry, 
became demoralized when they overtook some of our wagons 
and wrecked them. They virtually disbanded for a time that 
they might give themselves to j)lunder. Jackson was present 
in person when his iiead of column came onto this Valley pike, 
and he had at hand some of iiis best infantry regiments. If 
he had headed his main force north, instead of south, the 
Twenth-seventh, while so eagerly and swiftly rushing back to 
ascertain what was the matter with the train, would have 
encountered him, face to face. And, notwithstanding his 
error, if Jackson's cavalry had not failed him, it would doubt- 
less have been far different with us from what it was. On 
such slight circumstances do the destinies of soldiers depend. 

The artillery which, without proper support, was pound- 
ing at us, consisted of two Parrott guns from the Rockbridge 
Artillery, of Staunton, X'irginia. Captain Poague, in com- 
mand, says, "The regiment of infantry which seemed dis- 
posed to make a stand * * * was soon dispersed by a 



136 HISTORY ()!• THE 

few well directed shells." We have seen that the Twenty- 
seventh was " dispersed " much like our Conipanv B had been 
the day previous. It had (juietly withdrawn when no good 
end could be accomplished by remaining longer. Neverthe- 
less, there was merit in the conduct of the rebel artillery. As 
we moved slowly back in line ot" battle, toiling up the slopes, 
climbing the fences, jumping the ditches and water courses, 
jolting and stumbling over the rough ground, there was 
scarcely a step of the distance of nearly two miles, that shells 
were not hissing around us. Some droppeil squarely in our 
ranks. A few exploded behind us, and the pieces, as they 
zigzagged through the air, smote our ears with their wicked, 
terrifying noises. One of our men, Benjamin Arthur, of 
Comjiany F, was wounded by a piece of shell. When we 
abandoned one elevation they were ready to occupy it. When 
we descended into a ravine they pelted us the instant we 
began the ascent on the opposite side. We made several 
halts, and at each one there was an about-face and a straight- 
ening of the alignment. But all the time, the rebel guns kept 
at their work. It was only as we entered the village of Xew 
town that they desisted, probably from fear of injury to 
friendlv women and children. 

Not much was said among us at the time about our part 
in this adventure, unless it was to recall particular incidents, 
for their own sake. Considering, however, all the circum- 
stances, no other service of the Twenty-seventh reflects more 
credit upon the patriotism and soldierly devotion to duty and 
the courage of its members than this. We liave seen that be- 
fore leaving Strasburg it was well known that the enemy, 
in heavy aggressive force, had been at Front Royal the even- 
ing before. He was known to be marching upon a road con- 
verging towards ours, either abreast of, or ahead of us. That 
he would cross over and strike our column in tlank at one 
]>oint or another, appeared certain. When, therefore, our 
regiment was ordered to retrace its steps alone and put sev- 
eral miles between it and the other troops composing Banks' 
depleted army, the fact was clear'y understood by all that we 
were taking great risks. Yet no one ever saw an order 
obevil with more luartv cheerfulness, not to say eagerness, 
than the Twentv-sevent h obexeil tlie older to unsliiig knap- 
sacks and go to the rescue of the train. As the emergency 
developed and the presence of a real foe became more and more 



T\VENTY-SK\ KNIH INDIANA. 137 

certain, tlie enthusiasm ot" the men rose liighcr and higher, 
and their speed increased. When lined up along the fence 
and the lieutenant of the battery deemed that, in view of the 
threatening aspect of affairs, "discretion was the better part 
of valor," and withdrew, without ceremony, the determina- 
tion of the men of the Twenty-seventh to stand in their places 
and face any contingency rather than do likewise, was very 
manifest. When the rebel yells in front of us grew threaten- 
ing and defiant, and the colonel said: "I) n them, let 

them come on I They will find us here!'' the sentiment was 
cheered vigorously. And the e.xtended and laborious return 
march, in line of battle, under a vigorous artillery tire, was 
never surpassed for c- ol deliberation and instant attention to 
all commands. 

The results realized, also, were not inconsiderable. It 
was the boast of all concerned that in this long retreat, of 
Banks' army, out of the clutches of such superior numbers, 
only about fifty wagons were lost, of a total of almost six hun- 
dred. How many more would ha\e been lost if the Twenty- 
seventh had gone to the defense of the train less prc^mptly 
than it did, or had withdrawn earlier or more precipitately 
than it did, will never l)e known. WMiat is known is that 
the enemy was driven away from the train by the Twenty- 
f'eventh, in the act of destroying it, and that not another 
wagon was taken bv him after our arrival. 

Vet such are the ins and outs of so-called history that 
this service of the Twenty seventh, in whatever spirit or man- 
ner it was performed, or whatever it was worth, was never 
recognized at all. The captaiu of the battery to which the 
flection belonged that accompanied us, in his report, barely 
mentioned the fact that it did so. With tliat slight exception 
there is not a word in any of the official repoits concerning it, 
and the writer has met with no reference to it in any other 
paper covering this period. Colonel Colgrove was doubtless 
partly to blame for this. His report is as silent on tiiis sub- 
ject as others. There is no telling, however, to what extent 
he felt himself restricted by the order calling for reports, and 
he could not know how comprehensive and prolix, not to say 
misleading, some other reports were to be. No fair-minded 
man was likely to foresee that those above him would dilate 
upon and magnify the smallest things done by otliers, regard- 
lei^s of time or place, and maintain a damaging silence or put 



138 IIIS'IOH'S" ()l rHK 

forward absolutt-ly false statement>. roiiccriiiiior tlic Tweniv- 
seventh. 

As before stated, just abo\ e Newtown, reiiiforceiiieiits 
met us. coming to our assistance. These were the Twenty- 
eighth New York and Second Massachusetts, infantry regi- 
ments, and Battery M, of tiie First New York Artillery. 
At this point the official reports begin to be burdened with 
accounts of an attack on the w^agon train and how tlie train 
was saved. Not only Gordon, but Banks and Williams as 
well, give these commands, along with the Twenty-seventh, 
the crvidit of saving the train at Xewtown. The two last 
named generals, not being present at the time, were evident Iv 
led astray by Gordon. It is hard to see the matter in any other 
light only that the latter was designedly lending himself to 
the propagation of falsehood. He says, " Upon arriving near 
Newtown, I found some confusion in the trains and saw per- 
haps six or seven wagons that had been overset and abandoned. 
The Twenty-seventh Indiana, of my brigade, previously 
ordered, with a section of artillery, to this point, I found 
drawn up in line of battle. The rebel battery and force were 
said to be at the town, distant beyond about half a mile.'' 
Gordon's report was dated only four days subsequent to these 
events. Instead of the Twenty-seventh Indiana having been 
ordered to the point where he found it. half a mile above New- 
to\vn, he had himself communicated the order to the regiment 
at a point half a mile below New town to go to the point of 
attack, which he knew was a mile or more farther south. As 
a matter of fact, the point of attack was, as we have seen, at- 
least two miles, if not more, beyond Newtown. And, if Gor- 
don might be mistaken where it was that he had given the 
order to the Twenty-seventh and where the order required 
it to go, he could not be mistaken aliout the disorder which 
he says he found in the train. That was pure fiction. There- 
was not a single wagon in sight when he arrived, except the. 
six or seven wagons which, as he says, •■ had been overset atul 
abandoned." We never fully imderstood what was the cause 
of those wrecked wagons being at that point, above Newtown. 
As there had been an attack on the train somewhere in that 
vicinity earlier in the day, we supposed that it had caused the 
wreckage. If it had occurred at any other time it was not 
because of any rebel attack, for no other had been made any- 
where near that point. The wagons wrecked there lu^d been 



T\VKNTY-SK\ KN III I M • I A \ A . lU'J 

niostlv loiult'd with lon^ pimtoon bouts. When Gordon met 
us with his reinforcements there was no confusion of any kind. 
The rebels had dropped to tlie rear and the Twenty-seventh 
had lined up and was standing; ([uietly at attention. As for 
the train, every wajron able to stir a wheel, or that was ever 
saved to the I'nion armv. had. lontj since, moved on towards 
Winchester. 

Nevertheless, the jaded men ot' the Twenty-seventh were 
heartilv glad to see more of their own kind. We had come to 
be somewhat apprehensive about our isolated situation. With 
the utmost alacritv we wheeled into the column and were 
ready to move back towards the enemy. 

All the rej^iments movtd promptly southward, through 
the village, and formed in the fields he3ond. "Fhe Twenty- 
seventh was not the leading regiment in this movement, but 
followed it closely, and if there was a shot tired during the 
advance we did not hear it. While halted in the open 
fields detached bodies or scouts of tlie enemy could be seen in 
various directions, but all of them at a distance. A piece or 
two of l^attery M wa> unlimbered and tired several shots. 
One shot in particular elicited a round of cheers from the 
infantry. It was fired at a scjuad o!^ mounted men a half mile 
or so away, and was so well aimed and well timed that it 
exploded exactly in their midst. 

We must have remained stationary nearlv if not (|uite an 
hour. During this interval a detachment of se\eral hundred 
Union cavalry came to us from a westerlv direction. (General 
Hatch, in command of all the cavalrv under Ranks, was with 
them. They had Ijeen at the rear of the Union column, and. 
finding their progress intercepted by the rebel armv. had 
reached us by making a wide detour. 

General Hatch confirmetl the impression that a large forct 
of the enemy, infantrv as well as cavalrv and artillery, was 
close at hand. IVom the elevated ridges over whicli he had come 
lie had plainly seen their sericd ranks, inarching on the pike. 

Darkness was coming on when we finally turned north- 
ward again. Before passing the disabled wagons, aboNe 
referred to, a detail was made from the T went v-se vent h to 
burn them. When tiie body of the regiment marched by the 
fiames were glowing brightly. We liad g(5ne on but a short 
distance when we heard the rebel advance scream with delight 
at sight of them. 



140 IllSlOKV OK IHE 

From Newtown to Winchester the Second Massachuestts 
was our plucky rear guard. Tlie Twenty-seventh was next 
to it, and we remained within easy supj)orting distance the 
entire way. 

Skirmish firing was ahnost constant and sometimes fierce. 
Progress was very slow and the march btcame extremely 
wearisome. A slow march, now starting, now halting, long 
intervals spent standing in the road, momentai ily expecting 
to go on, is a hard service at best. At no other time does the 
mischievous knapsack tug so exasperatingly on one's shoul- 
ders or the cartridge box and haversack straps cut so sharply into 
one's collar-bone. If it is in the night, succeeding a long 
day's march, with heavy drain upon the nerve forces, insuffi- 
cient sleep the night previous, and insufficient food through- 
out the day, all of which was true of us at this time, such a 
march is killing. 

We will always remember the conduct of our cavalry 
that night. It was a good thing for them that we had not 
then heard of a reward being offered for a dead cavalryman, 
as we did afterwards; otherwise, we surely would have killed 
a few of them. There seemed to be an efl'ort to have a small 
force of cavalry remain with the rear guaril. but in the dark- 
ness, they could easily rein their horses out of ranks, put 
spurs to them and go speeding away. So there was a constant 
procession of them galloping through our ranks. We were 
in mortal terror of our lives. " Look out !"' some one would 
shout, and the word would be passed along the line of 
tired, sleepy men, followeil by the clatter of horses' hoofs 
and the clink and rattle of sabers and accoutrements. Men 
crowded each other into ditches, or over stones or logs, in 
their efforts to get out of tiie way. and no sooner would 
one scare be over than another would be forthcoming. 
Many emphatic words were fired at the fleeing, cowardly 
scamps, and many adjectives and epithets were used, 
some of them not popular with the churches. But the evil 
did not abate. There could not have been one cavalryman 
with the rear guard when it arrived at W'inchester. Our 
cavalry, however, was evidently superior to that of the 
enemy. Not only at MiddletowMi, but also during this night 
march and after our retreat began the next day, the con- 
duct of their cavalry was severely criticised by Jackson and 
others At one time on this march between Newt(»wn ;ind 



TWENTYSKVKNI'H INDIANA. 



141 



Winchester, Jackson brought his personal escort to the front. 
Under a smart volley from our side they broke like wild cat- 
tle, almost running over the General himself. He exclaimed, 
"Shameful! Did you see any one struck, sir.^ Surely they 
need not have run, at least not until they were hurt." 




joiix BKKSNAirAN, C(X A. Coi.()i{ Sekgt. Joiix L. Fii.ks. 



The portrait on the right illustrates the uniforms worn by 
the Twentv-Seventh after the fall of '62. 



CHAPTER XII 



THE IJATTLE OF W I Ml 1 i:S I'l.K. 

Circling around Winchester on the west and ^oulh. is a 
series of irregular hills or ridges. Tiie Strasburg pike, enter- 
ing Winchester from the south, crosses these hills ob'icjuelv, 
half a mile from the citv. West of this pike the hills are 
c|uite high in places, with valleys and ra\ ines l)etvveen the 
higher knobs. I-^ast of the pike the hills at no point are very 
high, and, in that direction, the land soon drops oft' into a 
rather level plain. Across that open and comparatively level 
country, the road from Front Roval enters Winchester from 
the souethast. 

As General Banks' two brigades of infantry arrived from 
Strasburg, May :24, 1862, they went into positions on these 
two roads. The First Brigade arrived before dark, and was 
assigned to the Front Royal road, while the regiments of the 
Third Brigade (ours), as they arrived later, in the absence of 
orders to do anything else, seem to have halted of their own 
accord, along the Strasburg pike, between where it crosses 
the hills and the city. 

The Twenty-seventh did not arrive at Winchester until 
about midnight. When it did arrive it filed into a cloverfield, 
at the south edge of the city and west of the pike. If we had 
not had the experience of the following night, we would 
think we were then as tired as men ever get. Not only so, 
but we were ravenously hungry, also. We had not cooked, 
or prepared in any way, a mouthful of food since soon after 
midnight that morning. The system was still in use among 
us of large tents and large mess-kettles, hauled in wagons. 
We did not even carry full rations on our marches, the meat 
and heavier, as well as more substantial, articles of food, being 
packed up with the kettles. When, therefore, as in the pres- 
ent case, we had no access to our wagons, rations were light, 
both in quantity and quality. To-night we were not allowed 
fires. So if anyone had any means of cooking, or anything 
to cook, it was out of the question. Not even a cup of hot 



r\\ i:.\'rv-sK\ KN I II Indiana. 14i> 

cuffef was obtiiiiuiblc. The best any of us could do was 
to ease our knawi'ng stomachs with what we had in our 
haversacks. Hardtack was the main reliance, washed down 
with cold water, or greased and seasoned, to a limited extent, 
with pickled pork, in case one was lucky enough to have it 
and able to eat it raw. With our knapsacks in the hands of 
the enemv, blankets. o\eico.'its and everything gone, except 
wh.-it we had on our per>()ns, there was nothing for us to do 
but eal tlii>- rather cheerless supper, and lie down in the 
rank clover, t horoughly soaked as it was witii a mountain 
dew. A>- there was nothing under us but wet grass, neither 
was there anxthing over us but a limitless expanse of murky 
fog. 

The regiment hail scarcely lain down when a detail came 
for Company C to go on picket. \o one who has not had 
the experience of it can begin to realize what an extreme 
hardship it is to thus go out and stand on post after such a day 
of prolonged exertion and fasting. There was, of course, 
some complaining, but the company went, all the same. There 
was rather more than the usual ditliculty in finding a suitable 
place for the picket line, dark as it was. In the etTort to do 
this the men were marched and counter-marched, through 
fields and over rough ground. One of the fields contained 
growing wheat, in head. It was so very wet with dew that 
the men, after passing through it, were as wet. up to their 
arms, as if they had w-aded a river. As is well known, the 
nights in a mountainous country are never very warm. The 
day may be sultry and the night which ensues will chill one 
to the bone. So it will never be known which rested the 
least or suffered the most, Company C. faithfully watching 
on the picket line, or the balance of the regiment back in the 
clover-field trying to sleep. 

Long before daylight the beating of drums and the rumble 
of wheels in their front advised our outposts that the enemy 
was again on the move. Without waiting for breakfast our 
forces were posted to await his coming. The Third Wis- 
consin and Second Massachusetts were assigned advantageous, 
sheltered positions on the nearest hills in front. The Third 
was nearest the pike on the west side, though not joining up 
to it, and the Second was west of the Third. The Twenty- 
seventh Indiana and Twenty-ninth Pennsylvania remained in 
reserve. At earliest dawn the reliel pickets advanced and 



144 iriSTOKY <)!• riiK 

eiij^aj^cci our pickets. The attack along the pike was at iir^i 
mainly on the west side of it. Our pickets on that side were 
driven back to the main line l)efore an attack was made on 
the other side. In fact, the rebel skirmishers in front of Com- 
pany C, east of the pike, halted at long range, and that cotn- 
pany, after exchanging a few shots with them, finally came 
in, in obedience to orders, and not because they were dri%en in. 

But before Company C received orders to come in, the 
main rebel line west of the pike had passed beyond them. 
As they were marching in column of fours, a force of the 
enemy, numbering three or four hundred, came suddenly over 
a hill to the westward and, bringing thsir muskets quickly to 
an aim, fired a sharp volley directly at our boys. The range 
was about one hundred yards. As the company was in the 
dusty pike they could see balls fall around and among them 
like rain, but, strange to say, none of them were hit. One 
soldier fell down and all supposed he was shot, but instantly 
jumping to his feet, it transpired that he had only stubbed his 
toe. 

Shortly before Company C arrived at the regiment. Com- 
panies [ and D were detailed to support a section of aitillery, 
already playing upon the enemy from a knoll in our rear. 
Thev remained in the discharge of that duty until the armv 
abandoned its position, and were not with the regiment again 
until after the retreat began. 

Sharp skirmishing continued all the morning. Occa- 
sionally the fighting approached the d gnity of a battle. 
Along the Front Royal road, east of us, the enemy made an 
attack in force, but it was promptly repulsed. All these 
operations were in plain view to us. In our immediate front 
the Third Wisconsin and Second Ma^sachusetts were attacked 
vigorously by the rebel skirmish line several times, but each 
time they speedily sent their foes to cover again. All the 
while there was a steady artillery fire from both sides. Tlie 
numerous hills and knolls afforded fine positions for artillery. 

From the top of a small tree, about three hundred yards 
from us, a rebel sharpshooter (so called) was firing at the 
men of our regiment. He must have shot a dozen times or 
more at Colonel Colgrove. After hearing the ping-mg-ing 
of the ball we could see the smoke raising out of the thick 
foliage of the tree. He was a "dull" rather than a sharp 
shooter, however. His balls went wide of the mark, e.xcept 



t\vp:nty-skven'iii Indiana. 145 

in one instance. lie or some one else wounded a member of 
Company II while we were at that place. 

About seven o'clock, the firing in front grew very savage 
and a sudden flurry was observable among aides and orderlies. 
Gordon's assistant adjutant-general rode furiously up to 
Colonel Colgrove with the information that the enemy was out- 
flanking us on the right and ordering him to take his regiment 
to that point. In much less time than it requires to relate it 
we were in line and moving by the right Hank, in column of 
fours, at a double quick. The head of the column was led to 
the left-oblique, following up a ravine. Thus we ascended 
the hill and likewise passed towards the fiont and to the right 
of the two regiments already engaged. 

The moment we reached the top of the hill we drew the 
fire of the enemy. Corporal Michael, of Company A. was killed 
by the first volley, He was in one of the first files. Brave 
man I He fell with his face to the foe. An immense musket 
ball struck him squarely in the forehead, opening a hole in his 
skull an inch in diameter. We w^ere obliged to break ranks 
somewhat to avoid stepping upon him, as he writhed in the 
convulsions of death. Others were wounded at the same time» 

Passing over the hill, a thrilling spectacle was before us. 
Beginning a little more than one hundred yards in front, thence 
back as far as the view extended, was a mass of men in grey. 
It is doubtful whether we ever saw, at any one time afterwards, 
as many as w^ere in sight at that time. Unquestionably, a year 
or so later, a single glance at such an overwhelmning force- 
would have satisfied both officers and men of the stupend^ 
ous folly of engaging it. But it is well said that new troops 
do not know when they are whipped. If any one among us 
had any thought that the enemy was too strong for us he 
certainly did not reveal it by anv wrird or sign. Not a man 
flinched or hesitated. On the contrary, every one pressed 
eagerly foward. 

When the rear company had passed over the hill, the 

Colonel halted the regiment and brought it to a front, 

facing southward. His commands ''Halt" and -'Front" 

could be plainly heard and are distinctly remembered. The 

lay of the land was such that the right wing of the regiment 

was on lower ground than the left. The enemy was also on 

lower ground than either of our wings. The halt was but 

momentary, then, at the command " Foward," we advanced, 
10 



146 HISTORY OK THE 

in regimental front, a few rods down the slope, to a fence, 
bordering a narrow lane. Like most Virginia fencerows, this 
was badly grown up to brush and briers. In some places it 
was impossible to see through it or over it. 

Even before we reached the fence we had opened fire 
on the enemy. Once there, we began to load and fire with 
all possible speed. The line officers urged the men vehemently 
to hurry, but also to be careful to aim correctly. We fired 
from three to five rounds each from that position and could 
clearly see that our shots were taking effect. 

Colonel Andrews, of the Second Massachusetts, was a 
gentlemanly, conservative and efficient officer, but he was 
mistaken when he said in his report that the enemy was too 
far away and our fire too scattering to be effective. The 
fire being limited bv the number of men, it was too light for 
the size of the advancing column and did not continue very 
long ; but while it did continue it was very effective. The 
writer would be far from intimating that he was more cool or 
self possessed than others, but while the firing was in pro- 
gress the thought came to him to look and see whether 
we were hurting any body. It was just when the enemy was 
moving obliquely across our front, towards our right, in column 
of company or division, close order. He was surprised to see 
how many rebels were being hurt. A large number were falling 
down. Some dropped all in a heap, some turned half way 
round and fell side ways, some fell forward, some backward, 
•some fell prone on the ground, while others caught themselves 
'On their hands. A still larger number were dropping their 
guns and starting to the rear, most of them clapping one or 
both hands to the place where they were hit. It was but a 
itnomentary glance, taken while loading, but what it re- 
vealed can never be effaced from memory. The only other 
time the writer has any clear recollection of taking especial 
note of the effect of our fire, was in the charge of the South 
Carolina brigade on Ruger's brigade at Chancellorsville. 
There the sides were more equally matched and while the South 
Carolinians were desperately punished, the relative effect- 
iveness of the fire was no greater. Here at Winchester the 
range was so good, and the enemy so massed that, with any 
dim at all, it was simply impossible to miss. 

Still, the fire did not bring the enemy to a halt or change 
his course. Among those nearest to us there was some con- 



TAVENTV-SEVENTir INDIANA 



147 



fusion noticeable, some passin<r to and fro, as if oHlcers were 
•holding the men to their places. But in the main the great 
mass moved on its course as though unmolested. What might 
have happened if the fire had continued longer it is needless 
to conjecture. 




In the meantime the Twentv-ninth Pennsylvania had fol- 
aowed us over the hill. Soon after we faced southward and 
started down towards the fence, they passed us and con- 
tinued on beyond. Shortly after they had gone by, an order 



148 HISTORY OF THE 

\vas repeated along our line to cease firing, about face and 
move to the rear. Any one knowing anything of the noise 
and confusion of a battle, and how completely absorbed men 
become in the work of loading and liring, will understand 
how difficult it was, under ^^uch circumstances, to get all the 
men to come to attention. It was necessary now for the line 
officers, and the file-closers also, to repeat and reiterate 
the command. \\'hen the order was finally understood it was 
received with very general disapproval. IVlany protested 
urgently that we could hold our position and repulse the 
enemv, and they fell in ranks to retire, with lagging steps. 

In getting positions along the fence, where we could ac- 
complish something, our formation was, of course, broken up 
considerably. A few had been killed and several wounded 
also. Sj, when we fell in to move to the rear, our formation 
was imperfect. Yet the line moved with deliberation and for 
a time without any disorder. But the Twenty-ninth Penn- 
sylvania had begun a retrograde movement about the time we 
had. The writer first comprehended the meaning of the order 
to move back by observing that the Twenty-ninth was moving 
to the rear. The two regiments, owing to impediments in the 
way and the point toward which both were moving, followed 
converging lines. Our right wing (since about facing, our 
left), to avoid contact with the other regiment, sheared away 
from it. That brought the two wings of the Twenty-seventh 
too near together and doubled up the center. So, from that 
on we moved with no undue or unseemly haste, but not with 
regularly formed ranks, over the hill and down its northern 
slope. 

Colonel Colgrove attributes this lack of order to the 
shortness of line officers in the Twenty-seventh.* It was still 
more attributable to the fact that all the field officers were 
dismounted. This was by direction of our brigade com- 
mander. Of all the unwise things done that morning this 
was the most uncalled for. In an emergency like the pres- 
ent it rendered a commanding officer powerless to control his 
men. It placed him on the ground, where he could not be 
seen or heard, except by a limited number. In such a change 
of direction as we were obliged to make at this time it lost 
him his proper relative position. The coolest, best disci- 
plined soldiers that were ever mustered, veterans of a score of 

• See Colgrove's Keiiort Rebellion Record. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 149 

battles, could do nothing, under such circumstances, but follow 
along with others. They could not know what else to do. 
If Colonel Colgrove had been mounted, so his soldiers could 
see him and understand by word or sign what he wanted them 
to do, a very brief time would have been sufficient to extricate 
the regiment and put it in perfect formation. 

The command to about face and move away from the 
fence had been first communicated to the Twenty-seventh by 
Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison. It had been brought to him by 
Lieutenant Scott, of Gordon's staff", during a brief absence of 
Colonel Colgrove, to confer with Colonel Murphy, of the 
Twenty-ninth Pennsylvania. When Colgrove returned he 
found the movement in progress. Supposing that there was 
some mistake he halted the regiment, had it face to the front 
again and resume firing. But when Morrison advised him 
what the order really was he again communicated it to the 
regiment and the movement was executed. 

Just what was first meant by this order, or how much it 
was expected to involve, is not likely to develop very soon. 
Colonel Colgrove has always believed that the design was 
simply to change front and withdraw behind the ridge. 
over which we had recently passed, in order the more 
effectually to oppose the rebel column which was swinging 
around our right. At least this was all he expected to have 
the Twenty-seventh do. The word was, therefore, passed 
along the line that a halt was to be made as soon as the ridge 
should be recrossed. All were to be ready for this. 

But before this point was reached by the Twenty-seventh 
the entire Union line had started to the rear. When we of 
the Twenty-seventh reached the crest of the ridge, where we 
had a view of other parts of our line, it was all in motion. 
Beyond the Strasburg pike the regiments of the First Brigade 
were moving briskly over the open, level ground which had 
been between them and the city, preceded by their ambu- 
lances, ammunition wagons and artillery. On our side of the 
pike the Third Wisconsin was moving down the steep hill- 
side in regimental front. Nearer still, the Second Massachu- 
setts was retiring in column of companies, the officers mani- 
festing their usual concern about order. 

Colonel Colgrove frankly admits in his report that at 
this juncture the order in the Twenty-seventh was not such 
as he labored to have it. The reason for it must have been as 



150 HISTORY OK THE 

Stated, because the Colonel was dismounted and could not 
make himself heard. His apolog^}' was hardly called for, how^ 
ever. If there was a degree of haste or confusion in our 
ranks deserving such mention the writer certainly did not 
see it, as there was nothing to cause it. After crossing the 
hill we were screened from the muskets of the enemy, and ncr 
shells were dropping among us or passing over us. 

Near the foot of the hill, on the northern side, and 
directly on our line of retreat, was a stone fence. Scarcely 
had we come in sight of it before it was said that that was 
the place to make another stand. Capt. \V. I). W'ilkins. as- 
sistant adjutant-general, in a report to his chief, General 
Williams, locates the origin of this order. lie says : '• I suc- 
ceeded, pursuant to your orders, in rallving about three com- 
panies of the Twentv-sevenlh Indiana Volunteers behind 
a low stone fence traversing the rear of the position just 
vacated by the artillery on the hill. This had scarcely been 
done before three regiments of the enemy's infantry came 
over the brow of the hill and poured in a heavy fire on the 
small force behind the fence. Our men replied with spirit 
and accuracy, holding their position for about eight minutes,, 
enabling the artillery formerly stationed on the hill to gefe 
safely to the rear. This accomplished, and seeing the useless- 
ness of a further resistance in the presence of such a superior 
force, I directed the men to rejoin their regiment."' General 
Williams doubtless ilid make such a suggestion to Captain 
Wilkins, but that the same thought came to many minds and 
was given voice by many persons, both otiicers and men, is 
probably equally true. It was pre-eminently the thing to do. 
If the captain meant by three companies that about three 
hundred men of the Twenty-seventh rallied behind the stone 
wall, he was not far from correct again. It was the impres- 
sion of the writer at the time that the entire regiment wag 
there. The body of it undoubtedly was there. As has been- 
stated, two full companies were absent on other iluty. That 
some others from causes not discreditable may have become 
separated from the regiment, is not imlikely. But the lengtl> 
of the wall, as ascertained since, was about equal to the length 
of a regiment of four hundred men. We all remember that 
we were so crowded for room as to be in eacli otiier's way. 

We iired about the same number of shots each from this 
position as from the one south of the hill. A\ no other place 



TWKXTV-SKVENTH INDIANA. 151 

was the enemy in front of tlic Twenty-seventh worse punished, 
in the same length of time. Their line, whicli was three 
times the length of ours, came sweeping over the hill, cheer- 
ing and waving their banners, and was brought to an instant 
standstill, while most of it fell back behind the hill for pro- 
tection. We could undoubtedly have held tiie position much 
longer than we did", perhaps permanently, if exposed to a 
front attack alone. Captain Wilkins is also in error as to the 
wall being low. It was high enough to be a comfortable 
shelter to men standing up. When ready to fire, it afforded a 
splendid rest. If open, face-to-face killing in war is ever 
murder, then murders were committed there. While loading, 
men picked out some conspicuous one of the enemy and when 
ready, took delibrate aim and shot him. 

The withdrawal from that place was not only in accord- 
ance with orders, but orders that were ver^^ urgent. It was 
necessary for the officers to insist and threaten vehemently 
before the men would cease firing and face about. As 
appears in Wilkins' report, the result justified the effort. It 
is the proud boast of the Twelfth Corps that " It never lost a 
color or a cannon." It is a record indeed to glory in. But if 
the men of the Twentv-seventh, who planted themselves 
behind that stone wall at Winchester, had failed of their duty, 
the boast could not have been true. 

The delay on the part of some in obeying orders to leave 
the wall was the means of dividing and disorganizing the 
Twenty-seventh, more than any thing else that befel it that 
morning. The Colonel being afoot, and so many other soldiers, 
citizens, contrabands and camp followers surging through the 
streets, it was impossible for a soldier to find the regiment, 
after losing sight of it for an instant. 

There are two princijial streets in Winchester, both of 
which curve toward each other at the south side of the city 
to meet the Strasburg pike, which would otherwise strike the 
city exactly between them. Both of these streets were liter- 
ally packed with humanity. The members of the regiment 
largely kept together, but anything like perfect formation 
was out of the (juestion. The enemy was in hot pursuit. 
There was not more than the distance of a square between the 
rear of the Union column and their pursurers. Yet that divid- 
ing line was clearly marked. I^xctpt on first entering the city 
and as we were leaving it, the enemy did nut tire upon us to 



152 HISTOUV Ol THE 

any great extent. They could not do So without thmj^er of 
hurting citizens also. 

The most of those who were taken prisoners were taken 
at the northern end of the city. A squadron of rebel cavalry 
which had made its way throu<rh the city on a side street, 
swung around and cut off a considerable nuniber of otlicers 
and soldiers who were the last to come out of the principal 
streets. 

There is one fact about this day's ordeal that is some- 
times lost sight of. That is that no organized body of men 
was captured. The enemy kept clear of all such. It was 
really only stragglers that till into their hnnds. In \ iew of 
this fact, those commands which boast of their perfect organi- 
zation might find it hard to explain how so many of the'r men 
came to be taken prisoners, and what kind of men those were 
who were taken. In a time of disorder or confusion a good 
soldier may become separated from his command. But if the 
command remains in pet feet order, it is a reflection upon a 
soldier to be found away from it unless disabled. 

Much was said and written at the time about the citizens 
of Winchester throwing missils, and even shooting, from 
their windows at Banks' men as they crowded through the 
streets. Statements to that effect found place in some official 
reports. The writer saw nothing of it himself. He saw 
vastly more people in the streets and upon porches and bal' 
conies, than he had supposed were in the city. There were 
also evident signs of interest, and some oi delight, over the 
turn of affairs. 

But more recent visitors to the city from the Twenty- 
seventh report that the people there now openly boast of their 
beligerent acts at that time. At least, one of the Twenty- 
seventh, an otlicer, was wounded by a pistol in the hands of a 
citizen. Another member of the regiment, who was captured, 
makes this note in his diary, the day the prisoners were started 
south: "Give the devil his dues, the ladies of Winchester 
have treated us well.'' 

A mile or so north of Winchester Colonel Colgrove halted 
the members of the regiment with him, and as others came up 
they joined them. General Banks was also there, assisting to 
rally and reorganize all straggling soldiers. At length Banks 
gave Colgrove orders to move on, which was done in regular 
order. It was during this halt that the Colonel first got his 



TWENTY-SEVKNTH INDIANA. 153 

horse, his orderly having brouij^ht him while we were wait- 
ing. As the Colonel vaulted into the saddle he used some 
very strong words, not learned in Sunday school, and asserted 
that if any man ever got iiim off his horse again, at such a 
time, he would have to shoot him oil". Discovering also sev- 
eral bullet holes in his old blouse he took it off and cast it 
away We all remember how the Colonel rode from there to 
Williamsport in his shirt sleeves. 

Just after this reorganization, and a new start had been 
made, a cloud of dust ahead of us indicated the arrival of rein- 
forcements. The troops cheered with great enthusiasm, but it 
turned out that the dust was being raised by a company or 
two of cavalry that had come down from IMartinsburg. The 
number was too small to be of much help. 

Tills day's exactions, especially considering what we 
had done the day and night previous, were by far the most 
severe the Twenty-seventh ever saw. It was a contmuous 
forced marcli from early morning until late at night. The 
pursuit by the enemy was not vigorous, yet it was persistent. 
Any time before reaching Martinsburg, to lag behind a little 
meant capture. Some of the Twenty-seventh were taken al- 
most in sight of the Potomac. 

One considerable squad was captured, some distance 
from Winchester, under provoking though ludicrous cir- 
cumstances. Seeing that they were about to be overtaken 
by the enemy, they decided to try concealing themselves 
under an abandoned building near by, in hope of reach- 
ing our lines by night. They all got snugly under, and 
thought themselves safe, but another one of our men, lagging 
still behiml them, had seen them crawl under the building and 
essayed to do likewise. He carried an immense knapsack, 
larger than anybody else in the regiment. The men often 
guyed him about what was in it. They said it was a wall 
tent, a feather bed, an eight day clock, etc. Well, he had 
this monstrous knapsack on that day and when he tried to 
get under the building it was no go. Do his best, the open- 
ing was too small. Wiiile he was still vainly trying, the 
enemy came up and took him. As he rose up to face his cap- 
tors he shouted, "You might as well come out boys, we are all 
taken." That betrayed the hiding place of the others and, of 
course, they had to come out too. 

The distance from Winchester to Williamsport is thirty- 



154 



HISTORY OF THE 



five miles. Tt was near nine o'clock A. M. when we left the 
former and about tiie same hour in the e\eniii<r we arrived at 
the river opposite the latter. A slight halt for rest was made 
at Martinsburg. The people there » ncouraged us quite a lit- 
tle bv their Union sentiments and supplied many with sub- 
stantial articles of food. The rest. howe\er, only served to 
stiffen our joints and dexelop the s^re ]->laces. The twelve 
miles from there on seeined longer than the twentv tliree 
before reaching llure. W'e found the bank of the river oppo- 




POTOMAC I^IVEK AT \\' I I.LI AMSl'OKT, Ml>. 



site Williamsport a vast jumble of wagons, camp equippage 
and men. The means of crossing were limited to a few small 
row boats and one rope ferry boat, capable of carrying 
two wagons and thirty or forty men, or their equivalent. An 
effort to ford the teams was abandoned ;.fter a trial. Several 
mules were drowned in this attempt and two or three wagons 
were left standing out in the stream. The water would almost 
swim a horse, the bottom was rough and. the current swift. 
Captain Bertram, of the Thirtl Wisconsin, at iirst had 
sole charge of loading the ferry boat, but finding it difiicult to 
secure proper order, he called for some ollicer to help him, and 
Lieutenant Reed, of the Twent v-scvt nth. xolimttered. They 



TWENTV-SEVENTir INDIANA. 155 

both had their hands full. ISIen would crowd up and threaten 
to overload the boat. For a time General Banks himself stood 
on the shore and assisted in controlling the men, as they went 
aboard. Captain Bertram was shockingly profane. The 
atmosphere fairly turned sulphureous when the men crowded 
onto him. General Banks said : " Don't swear at them, 
captain. If thev wont obey, put the bayonet to them, but 
don't swear at them.'' 

The order was to take sick men and ammunition wagons 
over first, then each regiment, in its turn. But a letter in the 
writer's hands, written the following day by Lieutenant Reed, 
reveals the fact that favoritism was shown there, as it so often 
was in the army. He says he discovered that Captain Ber- 
tram was sending the members of his company and regiment 
over, on one pretense or another, as fast as they came to him, 
so Reed sent quietly for the members of his company and 
passed them all over and, after that, passed any member of 
the Twenty-seventh over who offered to go. 

It was late on the rnorning of May !2(3, when the body of 
the Twenty seventh was ferried across. The writer crossed 
in the load with Colonel Colgrove. The night, on whichever 
side of the river it was passed, was very cold. The writer is 
w^illing to put it down in black and white that, all in all, it 
was the most thoroughly uncomfortable night, if not the one 
of the most intense suffering, he has ever seen in the flesh. 
Utterly exhausted, apparently not able to lake another step, 
every joint, muscle and tendon in his body as sore as a blood- 
boil, an inordinate, sickening craving for food, too much over- 
come \vith sleepiness to be able to stay awake, even when 
standing up, or moving around, seemingly on the very point 
of freezing to death, and withal, low-spirited and discouraged, 
what could add to one's misery? One individual would not 
matter, but if any soldier of the Twenty-seventh, or any other 
regiment, was in any better plight, his case v as an exception. 
A person who passes through one such experience in a life- 
time and lives to see the end, will suiely see s-onie happiness 
and be able to thank God, in the midst of any of life's vicis i- 
tudes thereafter. 

lUit tliis tenil)le night had an end; so did our awful, con- 
suming hunger; so tlid our pitiable weariness and longing for 
sleep and rest. When the Twenty-seventh was at length over, 
we did not fall in and march, we onlv followed tiie Colonel 



156 IIISTOUV OF THE 

and dragged ourselves along, to a fine grove, half a mile back of 
the village of Williamsport. Soon the wagons came up with 
rations and tents. After a good square meal, the first for 
sixty hours, we were ready for sleep. As for that, we did lit- 
tle else for two or three days. 

The first duty after a battle is to ascertain who is killed, 
wounded or missing. In this instance it required considerable 
time to do this. Men failed to report at all who had not been 
missed until search was instituted for them, and some event- 
ually came in who had early been given up as lost. The story 
that most had to tell was brief and straightforward, while 
the adventures and hair breadth escapes of others were quite 
marvelous. In some instances we could not help but wonder 
whether the reports were strictly true, in all respects! Never- 
theless we hailed the return of any and all with unalTectetl 
delight. 

The largest, and perhaps the most unexpected band to re- 
port was the detail before alluded to as being on guard over 
the commissary store at Cedar Creek. When we saw the re- 
sults of the enemy breaking into our column, south of New- 
town, and heard through General Hatch that the Rebel army 
was between us and the rear of our train, in force, we at once 
abandoned all hope of their escape. We did not fully under- 
stand their metal. 

The detail was in charge of Lieutenants VanArsdol, of 
Company A, and Lee, of Company C. Which was con- 
sidered in command does not appear. It would seem that 
they exercised about equal authority and united their ef- 
forts harmoniously for the common good. It is a serious loss 
to this narrative that fuller details of the plucky and successful 
service rendered by these two young oflicers, and the splendid 
discipline and remarkable endurance of the men under them, 
can not be here set out. To give the exact number of men is 
impossible, much less their names. One of the multiplied evi- 
dences that the members of the Twenty seventh were not in 
the army for glory is to be found in the fact that neither of 
these officers thought it necessary to inflict a written official 
report upon some one. Other officers who did nothing but run 
away, or stop and get captured, took occasion to rush into 
print afterward, through the medium of an official report. 
Both of these competent, promising young men were killed at 
Antietam. Lieutenant Lee had abandoned his boi>ks and class 



T\VE NTY-SE VENTIl 1 M) I A X A , 



157 



ties at Asbury University to carry a iiuiskcl in tlie Twenty- 
seventh, and liad done so, until ^nven a commission. 

It is understood that the experiences of the men from our 
regiment were similar to those of Banks' body guard, under 
Captain CoUis. He reports: " I brought with me two lieu- 
tenants and iiftv men, of various regiments, who had been 
guarding the commissary stores." Our men were not with 
Caotain Collis the whole way, however, and, aside from the 
matter of nmk. thcv had as much to do with bringing him as 





1st Li Err. Jacob A. Lee, Co. C. 

(Killed at Antietam.) 



1st LlElfT. O. P. Fb'HGrsox, 
Co. C. 



he them, if not more. Lieutenant VanArsdol, in particular, 
had been in this region before, and had some knowledge of 
the general lay of the country and many of the particular 
roads. His services were, therefore, invaluable. In addition 
to this, Lee and himself properly considered that they were 
especially responsible for the wagons and their freightage. 
At one important juncture they and their men were, for a con- 
siderable time, the only soldiers with the wagons. Captain 
Collis had decided to abandon the train entirely, but our faith- 
ful men refused to do so, and later on encountered, Collis and 
those with him, again. 

When this detail found themselves cut oft' at Cedar creek 
they promptly took the other end of the road and moved back 



158 HISTOHV OF THE 

to Strasbur^. There tliey decided to make an enercretic effort 
to rejoin Banks' main column hy a circuitous route to tlie 
westward. They started from Strasburg a little before dark, 
and hoped, by great exertion and an all-nigiit's march, to pass 
around tiie rebel army and overtake us at Winchester. But 
on nearing the pike between Xewtown and Winchester, near 
daylight, their advance scouts found the rebels occupying it. 
Countermarching hastily, and making another detour, they 
were approaching Winchester from the west, only to find that 
they were again too late. Another prolonged effort to reach 
the main column, at or near Martinsburg, met with the same 
disheartening result. l>ut, not to be outdone, our heroic men 
•decided to make one more supreme and independent strike 
for liberty. So they took a course for the upper Potomac, 
and eventually forded that river at Hancock, under very ven 
turesome and threatening circumstances. 

The entire distance traveled was about one hundred miles, 
almost wholly without sleep or rest, and with scanty food. 
Frequently they cut across the country on blind, neglected 
roads, and once, at least, for a considerable space, they were 
obliged to ab;indon all roads, and with the train travel over 
fields and through woods. These expedients were rendered 
necessary to avoid contact with the enemy, which they missed 
several times by a very narrow margin. In some of their cut- 
offs they were warned and piloted by loyal citizens. 

The physical endurance, as well as the courage and daring 
.of this party was remarkable. Added to the extreme and pro- 
longed exertions and other deprivations required of them, 
most of the men did not have a moment of sleep for more 
than seventy-two hours. After they had rejoined the regi- 
ment the writer saw a member of the party with blood oozing 
out between the soles and uppers of his brogans. From Han- 
cock to \Villiamsport they had transportation on a scow, by 
canal. 

To conclude this inadequate account, furnishing an 
■example of the kind of men we had in the Twenty-seventh, 
.an extract is submitted from Qiiartermaster Sergeant Crete's 
.letter to the Indianapolis ^t)?/r;/a/ : "The facts are as fol- 
lows, which can be established by General Banks' own private 
•memorandum, now in possession of Lieutenants Lee and Van- 
Arsdol, also by plenty of witnesses : The day after Captain 
vCollis and his men departed for Williamsport, Lieuts. J. A. 



TWKNTV-SKVKNTII INDIANA. 



159 



Lee and William \'anArsclol, of the Twent y-se\cnth Indiana, 
with their ' few stra<jglers," a body of infantry, agj2;regating 
more than Captain Collis' company, discovered those fine 
arms, 224 Springfield rifles, that had been secreted sometime 
before, by the One Hundred and 'IVMith Pennsylvania, put 
them on a can il boat and delivered them at General Banks' 
headc|uarters at Williamsport.'' 

The loss of the Twenty-seventh at Winchester was: 
Killed and mortally wounded, 5; wounded, not mortal,.'}!, 
and G2 [irisoners. (See Honor Roll.) 





Capt. David \'ax IJuskikk, 
Co. F. 



Ai. Caun. 
(The old Sutler.) 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE BATTLE SINCE WINCHESTER. 

There is one matter relating to the Twenty-seventh at 
Winchester that remains to be noticed. The writer does not 
at this time attach great importance to it, but it is probably a 
necessary part of this narrative. 

It is safe to say that no member of the regiment crossed 
the Potomac, after Banks' retreat, in a very highly satisfied 
state of mind, eitiier with reference to himself or his environ- 
ment. The dismal ending of the campaign, upon which we 
had so recently entered with such high hopes, could not be 
otherwise than sorely disappointing, while the fact that, in 
our first engagement witii the enemy, something that we had 
long been eager for, we had had such an unequal and dis- 
advantageous opportunity, either to do ourselves justice or 
to accomplish anything for the cause so near to our hearts,^ 
was as gall and wormwood. 

But Twenty-seventh soldiers were, as a rule, disposed to 
take things philosophically. Our recent reverses were 
regarded as illustrative of the fortunes of war, and there was 
not a doubt in the mind of anyone but that they would be 
speedily avenged. As to ourselves, it did not occur to us 
either to glory excessively, or to repine dolefully. We were 
too cool, both during the action and afterward, to be carried 
away with the delusion that we had accomplished anything 
very great, and we were too well informed to believe that we 
had any reason to blush. As to others, the Twenty-seventh 
had seen much to admire, and very little of a contrary nature^ 
Particularly, there was no disposition to criticise and dis- 
parage other organizations. The writer will be responsible 
for the statement that the Twenty-seventh was never much 
given to that species of villainy. Throughout this retreat we 
had witnessed most that was done or attempted by the infan- 
try, from the start at Strasburg to the finish at Williamsport. 
What we had not seen we became quite clearly advised of 
through others. Almost all of it tended to increase our con- 



TAVKNTY-SK\KNTU INDIANA, 101 

fidence in our troops, and beget in us a feeling of comrade- 
ship toward them. While now and then individuals had 
shown the white feather (some of our own number being 
among them), no command, as such, had, as far as we knew, 
come short in any material respect. 

What was our surprise, therefore, when the published 
accounts of recent events, particularly of the battle of Win- 
chester, began to appear, not only to find others unduly 
lauded for the part they had taken, but given credit also for 
what we had done ourselves ; and to lind our own regiment 
not only denied all recognition or praise for what it had 
accomplished, but really blamed for the entire disaster ! These 
things were not true of all accounts, of course, but in one or 
more prominent Eastern newspaper it was stated that the 
Twenty-seventh Indiana had abandoned its position at Win- 
chester without orders, and the wording was such as to con- 
vev the impression that that was the reason why our side lost 
the battle. To make matters worse, it transpired soon that 
the nominal author of these slanderous statements was a cor- 
respondent of certain copperhead newspapers, who resorted at 
our brigade headquarters, and who at once disclaimed all per- 
sonal knowledge of the facts, having obtained them from our 
brigade commander and those associated with him. 

That such a situation as the foregoing would not arouse 
intense, almost uncontrollable, indignation in the Twenty- 
seventh, was not to be expected. Two hundred pounds pressure 
to the square inch was registered forthwith. A complete 
record of the period would disclose the fact that some violent, 
disrespectful language was used at this time, accompanied by 
threats of armed raids upon certain headquarters, shots to be 
hred while on the march, or engaged in battle, but aimed at a 
certain oflicer of rank, staff officials, newspaper correspond- 
ents, etc., etc., some of which, if carried into execution, 
would have been more inexcusable in form than in fact. The 
prevailing sentiment of the regiment, however, w^as dicidedly 
against such things and they were frowned upon whenever 
they manifested themselves. 

The duty of enquiring into this grievance and doing what 

was necessary to secure the withdrawl of the offensive and 

unfouniled statements, or of disapproving them, devolved, at 

length, upon our colonel and lieutenant-colonel. Both of 

them were vitallv interested, especially the latter, as he had 
11 "^ 



162 HISTORY OF THE 

communicated the order to the Twenty-seventh, which resulted 
in the move, said to have been made without orders. 

It was understood in the regiment at the time that Gor- 
don and others were promptly interviewed by our two ofHcers 
and the furtlier imderstanding soon became current that a 
satisfactory adjustment had been easily arrived at. The cor- 
respondent who had written the scandulous dispatches readily 
agreed to correct them in subsequent dispatches, and Gordon 
and his staff professed to have seen a new light. The charge of 
moving without orders, and all charges of misconduct w'ere 
to be withdrawn and not repeated again. Some sort of correc- 
tion or apology did appear in one or more of the papers 
ithat had published the first dispatches; Gordon just then was 
relieved of his command, and sent back to his regiment, and 
interest upon the subject gradually died out. 

It has only been in more recent years that the survivors 
of the Twenty-seventh became aware that the terms of this 
:adjustment were never really observed by General Gordon, 
and that, after the war closed, he repeated his former false- 
'hoods himself, in more positive, and, if possible, more offensive 
forms than formerly. In fact, it is not certain how far he 
really assented to the adjustment mentioned above, in the first 
place, though it does seem certain that he did not intend to be 
sincere or honest in anything he said in the premises. 

The writer feels himself justified in expressing his sore 
disappointment, not to say humiliation, over some of the facts 
developed in this connection. It appears that a temporary 
jmiff or estrangement existed between Colonel Colgrove and 
3-,ieutenant-Colonel Morrison, This was permitted to inter- 
'fere, and prevented them from standing close together and 
iloyally supporting each other, as every consideration of their 
(own, as well as that of the organization they represented, 
demanded. One did not always hear what was said to the 
other, which gave Gordon an opportunity for double-dealing, 
and left each of our oflicers with a vague, indefinite and some- 
what different understanding of what really was said or 
agreed to. 

To Colonel Colgrove, Gordon and those about him, while 
apparently affable and conciliatory, repudiated all responsi- 
bility for the withdrawal at Winchester. The staff officer 
who brought the order to Colonel Morrison denied having 
done so. As to what further they said, and in what terms 



T\VEXT\ -SEVFtNTH INDIANA, 163 

they expressed themselves, the writer is not advised, except 
that Colonel Colgrove evidently understood Gordon to be per- 
fectly \villin<j, and even f^lad, to exonerate the Twenty-seventh 
from all blame, and that he was very sorry that, for a time, he 
had entertained a contrary opinion. And so on and so forth ; 
Gordon could always talk ! It is not easy to see, however, 
how he could say less than this, especially face to face with 
Colonel Colgrove. When the latter definitely assumt'd the 
responsibility for the order to withdraw, by stating that he 
had, on the authority of Colonel Morrison, repeated it to the 
Twenty-seventh himself, what else could Gordon say? 

This was the condition, then, in which the matter was 
allowed to rest, as far as Colonel Colgrove was concerned. 
Nothing was written down ; no witnesses in sympathy with 
the Twenty-seventh seem to have been present, and few defi- 
nite categorical statements are remembered. No order to 
withdraw, or change positions from in front of the hill to the 
rear of it had emanated from brigade headquarters, during the 
battle of Winchester. But if Colonel Morrison had repre- 
sented to Colonel Colgrove that there was such an order, and 
the latter had repeated it to his regiment, he was not to blame, 
and no more was the regiment to blame. 

Whether or not Colonel Colgrove said or did anything to 
extricate his lieutenant-colonel from such an embarrassing and 
discreditable position as this put him into, is not in evidence. If 
he lost much sleep over the matter the fact has been withheld 
from the public. 

In a letter to the writer, dated in 1890, Colonel Morrison 
says. Captain Scott, of Gordon's staff, brought him the order to 
withdraw the Twenty-seventh from its position along the old 
fence at Winchester, saying that a new line was to be formed 
behind the hill. Colonel Morrison says he gave the order direct- 
ly to the regiment, because Colonel Colgrove was temporarily 
absent, and he supposed himself to be in command. He alleges 
that Captain Scott was not more than thirty feet from him 
when the order was given, that being as near as he could ride 
because of obstructions. All these facts, he says, he was able 
to prove at the time of writing. He stated, moreover, that 
he was not aware until recent years that Gordon or his staff 
had ever denied their relation to the order in question. They 
never denied it in his presence, nor to any one who reported 
their denial to him. What Gordon and his staff did do, 



164 HISTORY OF THE 

wlien he had a conference witli them, was to ask him if 
Colonel Colgrove was really absent from the Twenty-seventh 
when the order was delivered to him and inveigh bitterly 
against Colgrove for being absent. On this point Gordon pre- 
tended that it was only in defference to Colonel Morrison's 
wishes, in fact, at his earnest solicitation, that Colonel Col- 
grove was not court martialed for his offense in the case. 

All this has the appearance to the writer of palpable, in- 
tentional fraud on Gordon's part. He was taking shrewd 
advantage of the relations existing between our colonel and 
lieutenant-colonel and was dealing in glittering generalities 
and unmeaning statements, in order to stave off" and cover up 
the real issue. jMore is the pity, he seems to have succeeded. 
Each of our officers seem to have thought that they had him 
solid on their side, and that, therefore, he could be trusted to 
do the rest. Whether or not they are now satisfied with the 
result, they have themselves to thank for it, at least in part. 

In his official report of the battle of Winchester, Gordon, 
although he does not observe the assurances that Colonel 
Colgrove understood him to give, still seems to reflect them.* 
As compared with his subsequent statements concerning the 
Twenty-seventh those in his report are mild, and, when 
clearly understood, not really damaging. The part of his 
report bearing upon the present contention is as follows : 
"At about 6:30, perhaps nearer 7 a. m., large bodies of in- 
fantry could be seen making their way in line of battle to- 
ward my right. They moved under cover of the dense wood, 
thus concealing somewhat their numbers. 1 directed the 
Twenty-ninth Pennsylvania Regiment, Colonel Murphy, and 
the Twenty-seventh Indiana Regiment, Colonel Colgrove, to 
change position from the left to the right of the line. * * * 
This movement I had hardly completed, despite a new bat- 
tery which opened upon my line, when three large battalions 
of infantry, moving in order of battle, came out from their 
cover and approached my brigade. They were received with 
a destructive fire of musketry, poured in from all points of my 
line that could reach them. Confident in their numbers, and 
relying upon larger sustaining bodies (suspicion of which be- 
hind the covering timbers in our front were surely confirmed), 
the enemy's line moved on but little shaken by our fire." In 



* Evidences of a compromise on these points are clearly tracable in the reports of 
Colgrove, Gordon and Banks. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 165 

the lines, above quoted, Gordon refers wholly to the Twenty- 
ninth Pennsylvania and Twenty-seventh Indiana and to the 
flanking column of the enemy which was to confront these 
two regiments and be alone confronted by them. But to un- 
derstand these lines the better a few others must be quoted. 
Gordon continues : " At the same time, in our front (that is, 
in front of the Third Wisconsin and Second Massachusetts), 
a long line of infantry showed themselves, rising the crest of 
the hills just beyond our position. My little brigade, num- 
bering in all just 2,102, in another moment would have been 
overwhelmed. On its right, left and center immensely supe- 
rior columns were pressing. Not another man was availa- 
ble ; not a support in the remnant of his army corps left Gen- 
eral Banks. To withdraw was now possible ; in another 
moment it would be too late. At this moment I should have 
assumed the responsibility of requesting permission to with- 
draw, but the right fell back under great pressure."* 

It is remarkable how Gordon could use so many words 
in his reports and yet say so little. In the wagon load or 
more of reports made by others during the war, there are none 
like his, either in the unnecessary space occupied or in sheer 
lack of clearness. In this report, as in others, he undoubtedly 
studied to have his statements misleading. When Gordon 
says : " Three large battalions of infantry, moving in order of 
battle, came out from their cover and approached my brigade," 
it must be understood that it was the position occupied solely 
by the Twenty-ninth Pennsylvania and Twenty-seventh Indi- 
ana, that these regiments approached. He could easily have 
said that, had he chosen to do so. He chose rather to say : 
*' My brigade," leaving it indefinite as to what part of his line 
they approached. And so, when he says : " They were 
received with a destructive iire of musketry, poured in from 
all parts of my line that could reach them," it must be under- 
stood that it was the Twenty-seventh Indiana, almost alone, 
that ''poured in" such a "destructive fire of musketry." 
Gordon could easily have said that also if he had desired. The 
Twenty ninth Pennsylvania did not get into its position in 
time to " pour in " much of a lire and the other two regiments, 
besides being too far away, had enough else to attend to. 
More than this, there were four regiments in the advancing 
rebel column, instead of three, as Gordon here states. If these 

*See Gordon's Ofliciul Heport, Records of the Uebellion. 



166 HISTOUY OK THE 

facts had been clearly stated in his report, so as to be under- 
.stood, it would have been no reproach to the regiments con- 
cerned that thev moved to the rear, especially when they were 
ordered to do so by their commandinj^ ofhcers. Even if it 
was a mistake (which it was not) that such an order had been 
promulgated by those higher in authority than regimental 
commanders, the regiments themselves would not be to 
blame. 

But in his book. " Brook Farm to Cedar ]Mountain " (the 
substance of which was also read before the Officers' Association 
of the .Second Massachusetts, and subsequently published as a 
part of the history of that regiment, under the title of " The Sec- 
ond Massachusetts and Stonewall Jackson "), Gordon throws 
otT his mask entirely and returns to his former charges, this time 
repeating them himself. Why he does so it is nnpossible to 
conjecture, except upon the theory that " Blood will tell." 
The truth would surely seem to have suited his purpose 
far better. He was laboring solely in the interest of his own 
vanity and, under the circumstances that he portrays, which 
were substantially true, it would certainly appear that the 
order which he gave to a part of his brigade to move to a more 
advantageous position during the battle at Winchester, was 
greatly to his credit. 

Yet, in this book, he not only denies or ignores the fact 
of such an order being given and says " Jackson saw the 
Twenty-ninth and Twenty-seventh, of my brigade, break into 
disorder and begin to fall to the rear," * but goes out of his 
way to discredit the rebel account (not our account, not some 
partial friend of the Twenty-seventh's account, mind you! 
but the rebel account) of the effectiveness of our fire into the 
rebel lines, f The climax of his conglomerate, unintelligible and 
selT-contradictory sentences on this subject are the following : 
"A delay of a few minutes from the time the Twenty-ninth 
Pennsylvania and Twenty-seventh Indiana broke to the rear 
from the right would have caused our capture or destruction. 
It was officially reported that an order to these regiments to 
fall back was given ; I feel sure that none was given, but in 
view of the results, I can not condemn the want of discipline 
that caused it."t 



♦Second Massachusetts and S. J., p. 125. 
tSaine, p. 125. 
tSaiue, p. 127. 



TWKNTY-SEVENTII INDIANA. 167 

What was the man trying to say, anyhow? Does he 
mean that, what he represents as the disreputable conduct of 
the two regiments, was the only wise and timely thing that 
occurred at that supreinely critical moment? Does he mean 
then to insist that what they did was without orders, even 
from their own commanding officers? lie refers to General 
Banks, in a foot note, as his authority for saying " it was re- 
ported that an order to withdraw had been given." ]?anks 
did not say any such thing. What Banks did say was, that 
the move was made " under the erroneous impression that an 
order to withdraw had been given."* Banks was sufficiently 
high-minded and just to give the regimental officers the credit 
of having acted in good faith. Inasmuch as Gordon speaks of 
a " want of discipline " causing the movement, it must be that 
he meant to deny this to the regimental officers. No one knew 
better than Gordon that it could not be a " want of discipline" 
in troops to move in obedience to the order of their regimental 
officers or in the regimental officers themselves to give such an 
order upon definite information, coming through a proper 
channel, tliat it was the order from brigade headquarters. 

But, what is the real point at issue here? Is it not as to 
whether Colonel Morrison received an order to move the 
Twenty-seventh to tlie rear during the engagement at Win- 
chester and was therefore justified in giving such an order to 
the regiment, and the regiment was wholly justified in obey- 
ing the order, or whether he acted without such authority and 
was therefore guilty of a shameful blunder and a gross military 
offense? Was not that in reality, the only question at issue 
from the start? \\'h() couhl see that more plainly than (Gor- 
don, or CO prehend it more fully? And, this being the cas^^e,. 
who can think for a moment that if no such order had eman- 
ated from i)rigade headciuarters, and that Colonel Morrison 
had been guilty of imagining or manufacturing such an order, 
the matter would have been allowed to take the course it has? 
No, the incontrovertible facts are just as they have been stated 
in this narrative, and as the officers and soldiers of the Twenty- 
seventh have all along known them to be. Colonel Morrison 
was and is a brave, level-headed, truthful man and. in addition 
to that, he had an abundance of competent eye-witnesses to 
support all of his allegations. He received the order to with- 
draw the Twenty-seventh from a ineml)er of Gordon's statT, 

♦Banks' report. 



168 HISTORY OF THE 

precisely as he claimed he did. This calumny of Gordon and 
his CO adjutors was wholly an afterthought. It was a short- 
sighted conspiracy that they had hatched up after reaching 
Williamsport to shield themselves from what they foolishly 
thought they might be blamed for, when in truth, it was to 
their credit. 

The retreat of General Banks caused no little excitement 
and dismay in the North, particularly in Massachusetts. Gov- 
ernor Andrew, of that State, issued a flaming proclamation, 
before Banks' army was across the I'otomac, calling out the 
State Militia and calling upon the people generally to rally 
to the defense of the country. The newspapers were heavy 
with inflammatory editorials. Much of this was of the nature 
of fault finding. Somebody was to blame. At this period of 
the war, if not on to the end, the highest military talent of 
the country (in its own estimation) was far in the rear of the 
army. Successes and reverses at the front were largely esti- 
mated by the amount of territory gained or lost. To retreat, 
therefore, was a grevious failure in their view. 

When this pressure began to come upon Gordon and his 
advisers, it stampeded them. They were not military men 
enough, or they were too much lacking in moral courage, to 
stand by their guns. In that they missed the opportunity of 
their live*^. Gordon, in some respects, was heroic and com- 
petent on the Winchester retreat. His energy knew no 
bounds. Almost alone among those occupying stations as 
high as his, he was indefatigable and tireless. Much that he 
did was wise and timely. His order to the Twenty-ninth 
Pennsylvania and Twenty-seventh Indiana to change position 
to the rear of the hill, was of all things the right one to give 
under the circumstances. If, in his mind, it involved the 
matter of a final withdrawal from the field, it was all the bet- 
ter. It proved that he had in him some of the elements of 
a commander of troops. It would seem, too, that he was 
justly entitled to the credit of having such a thought in mind 
All along, from the first attack of the enemy at Front Royal, 
he had contended that the thing to do was to get out of Jack- 
son's way. If, therefore, he promulgated an order at this 
crisis, looking to a prompt evacuation of Winchester, it 
showed that he was the only one present that day, and high in 
author' ty, who was able to rise to the occasion. 

But at Williamsport Gordon weakened. Before the storm 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 169 

of ;i'l verse criticism and condemnation that swept down from 
New Enirland he made haste to find cover. He dared not face 
Governor Andrew and the Boston public and say manfully : 
"Yes, I ordered the retrograde movement at Winchester. I 
claim the glory of it ; it was all that saved Banks' army ; and, 
the army being saved, little else of permanent value has been 
lost." 

Just here Gordon himself furnishes a suggestion. The 
old adage says " Set a thief to catch a thief!" Gordon accuses 
Banks, in this same connection, of oflFering a propitiatory sac- 
rifice to this indignant public sentiment. He says Banks offered 
up his assistant adjutant-general. In like manner, Gordon 
offered the Twenty-seventh Indiana. That is the whole truth 
of the matter, in a nut-shell. 

Some years ago, as related to the writer by one of those 
concerned, three railroad freight trains, or rather one train 
running in three sections, were dispatched from a western 
city. When about half way to their destination one of these 
trains ran into another one and both were immediately piled 
up in a shapeless and almost worthless mass, at the side of the 
track. The real cause of the disaster was whiskey. In the 
cab of one of the locomotives had been a jug, out of which 
most of the men helped themselves until they were drunk as 
lords. But the crash of the collision awoke them to their 
senses, and the gravity of the situation was at once apparent 
to all. They foresaw the impending wrath of the railroad 
officials and realized that it meant permanent loss of position 
to all concerned, if nothing more. What tlid they do? They 
assembled themselves there, on the railroad embankment, and 
agreed upon a story, accounting for the wreck in a different 
way from that in which it really occurred ; and they drilled 
themselves in it, and safeguarded every point, until those over 
them in the management of the railroad never succeeded in 
breaking through their disguise. 

Who that has studied the history of the Civil war, or of 
any war, will believe that similar things are not frequently 
done in war time, by various parties from various motives.'' 
This case of Gordon and his friends, in their relation to the 
battle of Winchester, is a case in point. Unlike the railroad 
men, they had no reason for conspiring to falsify the facts, 
but they thought they had at the time. Unlike the railroad 
men, too, they were not so successful in perpetrating a fraud. 



170 



HISTORY OF THE 



Their disjruise was easily broken into. From the outset it 
was as thin as vanity. In one way or another, however, (Gor- 
don persisted in it as long as he lived. 




^* 






Cai't. Kai'p, Co. F. 

[Killed at Antietani. Protrait taken be- 
fore the war.) 



Howard Hknslev, Co. F. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



WILLI AMSFORT AND FRONT ROYAL. 

Wc remained at W'illiamsport until June 18. These 
were fine days in the early summer, with occasional heavy 
rains, but warm and balmv. .\11 nature was clothed in luxu- 
rient, loveliest green. The sense of security, and even of 
peace, which came to us, was most delightful. 

Com pan V G was detailed for provost duty in Hagers- 
town, six miles away. They had the usual round of exacting 
patrol and guard service to maintain, that law and order 
might not desert the city, which was never a soft snap; but 
the boys seemed to regard their stay there as something of a 
holiday. The Union element largely predominated in Hagers- 
town. Like Frederick, the city abounded in all the creature 
comforts, and the people were generally warm-hearted and 
hospitable. After a time spent in a bitterly hostile section, 
where the citizens were all decidedly unfriendly and where 
an armed enemy might appear at any time or trom any quar- 
ter, it was a treat in itself to be in such a city as Hagerstown. 
The company remained there until the regiment left Will- 
iamsport and started southward, and did not come up with us 
until we reached Front Royal. 

Meanwhile the work of resupplying the troops with such 
things as had been lost or wornout in the recent hurry-skurry 
went energetically forward. Almost the first time we were 
called into line at Williamsport was for inspection. It was a 
busy time for those employed in the commissary or quarter- 
masters' departments. Next to food, tlie most importiint 
articles coming to us were our ruliber and woolen blankets. 
As previously noted, we had lost all of these. The weather 
being so mild, we could do without them now better than in 
colder weather, but some bedding was always desirable. We 
also received a fresh supply of knapsacks, if indeed the state- 
ment is not superfluous. That fact might perhaps be taken 
for granted. They were new and stanch. They had the 
same smell of turpentine, paint oil and India rubber as the 



172 



HISTORY OF THE 



old ones, and wc soon found that their fit was no better. 
They tugged backward and downward on our tired and ach- 
ing shoulders with the same persistent, aggravating pull. 
Repeat the manoeuver of hunching the back and giving the 
shoulders a jerk forward and upward as often as we might, 
the ache would soon return. 

It is said that when a man dreams of heaven he always 
dreams of it as a place where his worst earthly annoyances 
are unknown. The inhabitant of the torrid zone, for exam- 
ple, dreams of heaven as a place where there is no burning 





Sergt. M. H. Van Busrirk. 
(Taken soon after war.) 



W. M. Parsons, Co. A. 
(Recent photograph.) 



heat ; while the imagination of the dweller in the land of 
perpetual snow, when free from the restraints of the will. 
pictures it as a place wholly exempt from freezing cold. On 
that theory, a soldier of the late war might possibly dream of 
there being guard duty in the Great Beyond, a little hard 
marching, long periods without rations, and even an occa- 
sional battle, but knapsacks — never! 

We also exchanged muskets and brigadier-generals while 
at Willi:imsport. The only reason for the former was that 
we might have arms of the same calibre as the balance of the 



TWENTY-SEVKXTII INDIANA. 173^ 

bri<^ade. Our old Bel<^iuni riilt-s were, as a rule, accurate and 
wicked shooters, but they carried such large balls that it wa; 
necessary to provide ammunition especially for the Twenty- 
seventh. This not onlv involved extra labor, but there was 
danger that we might run short at some critical time and not 
be able to borrow. Aside from this, the muskets we received 
were inferior to those we turned in. Four of the compan- 
ies, the two center and two flanking companies, were supplied 
with "Minnie" rifles. These were short, light guns, with 
swords about two feet long for bayonets. The other six com- 
panies received English Enfield's. 

The writer was in one of the companies receiving the 
guns with the sword bayonets. We were greatly elated over 
them at first. They had been highly eulogized in the papers. 
A command armed with them seemed ready for very bloody 
work in the estimation of the average newspaper man. But 
experience proved that the short swords had no other or 
higher use than to cut tent stakes and kindling wood. Besides, 
they were cumbersome and annoying to carry on the march. 
Without the bayonets the guns were too light for effective 
shooting and too short for drilling. With the bayonets they 
were too unbalanced and un wieldly for either. Those receiv- 
ing the Enfields, while a little chagrined at the start, soon 
discovered that they had by far the most desirable arms of the 
two. The Enfields possessed one advantage over any other 
gun used on the Union side in the war. The troops were not 
slow to see it and avail themselves of its benefits. It was that 
the rebels were largely armed with them and in any battle it 
was easy to get another gun if your's was lost or disabled. 
Then they were also light, well proportioned and shot to kill. 

It would seem that any change in brigade commanders 
should have been welcomed by the Twenty-seventh. Any- 
body was preferable to Gordon. We were not delighted with 
our new commander for a while, however. Those who know 
how able and trustworthy he showed himself to be later, may 
be surprised when his name is disclosed. It was none other 
than Gen. Geo. S. Green, the hero of Gulps Hill, Gettysburg, 
He proved to be a capable officer, one who in an emergency 
had few equals, of his rank. Whether at this time he was 
crochety and impractiable, or only mistaken in the men he 
was dealing with, matters little now. His first step was to- 
order the Twenty-seventh out of its shady camp, among the 



174 HISTORY OF THE 

big oaks, into an open field, grown up to weeds. If the 
change was ordered to escape the danger of sleeping during 
the night upon unplowed ground and leaf mould it might have 
been justified. But guards were posted to prevent us from 
returning to the grateful shade, even through the day. We 
were thus forced to stay out in the field, exposed to the merci- 
less June sun, except such poor shelter as our tents aflFoided. 
During one of General Grant's terms as President he strongly 
urged the repeal of a certain law, and curiously gave as a rea- 
son that its existence was the occasion of so much profanity. 
Assuredly General Green did not think of that consideration 
when he issued the order in question. No order bearing upon 
the rights and privileges of the Twenty-seventh ever provoked 
more lurid blasphemy. As has been said, the ground we were 
forced to occupy was grown up with rank weeks. Though 
we cut these down and removed all traces of them as thor- 
oughly as possible, some snags remained and the ground where 
they had been emitted an offensive and distressing odor. 
Every time one of the boys stubbed his toe or encountered a 
sharp projection when sitting down, or while lying in his tent 
the sickening smell disturbed his olfactories, the new brigade 
commander and the despised order came in for a series of 
sulphurous imprecations. Others of General Green's peculiar- 
ities will appear later. 

Another and larger ferry was provided at Williamsport 
during our sojourn there. The rope for the new one was 
twisted wire, nearly or quite two inches in diameter, and 
weighed several tons. On the south side of the river this rope 
was securely fastened, high up in a large tree. There being 
no trees on the north side, a support was erected with a pulley 
at the top, over which the rope was passed, thence down to 
a massive bulk -head. But the latter proved inadequate to 
stretch such a heavy cable. The stakes holding it to the 
ground would give way, or if they held for awhile, something 
else would break. As a sort of experiment, or forlorn hope, 
five hundred men of our brigade were detailed to go down and 
pull on the rope, and, if possible, stretch it up to its place. 
Who suggested tiie trial is not known to the writer. Many 
were the speculations as to the result. A very large majority 
of those who expressed any opinion about the matter, scouted 
the effort as useless. But when those five hundred lusty 
patriots got hold of that rope, with a " He-o-he-e " and a 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 175 

prolonged " Who-o-p," tliey first took up the three or four 
hundred feet of sUick that Iiad hiid tangled in the bed of the 
wide river. Then, with another similar effort, they stretched 
the entire cable until its lowest sag in the middle was several 
feet above the high water level. It was all done inside of 
three minutes. Never was axlverse theory more speedily or 
more effectually disproved by practice. A good sized scow, 
sent out into the stream to assist in loosening the rope from 
the rocks, came near being drawn under water by the shear 
force of the rope passing over it. The men in the scow 
screamed frantically for the men pulling on the rope to stop, 
though in vain. Then the thought occurred to them to seize 
hold of the rope themselves, and, when they did, they were 
quickly drawn to the shore. The incident has stood in the 
writer's mind through all the intervening years as a majestic 
example of the tremendous power there is in the aggregation 
of mere human forces. From that day to this he has never 
been worried over the question of how such monster stones 
could be in the ruins of Thebes and Baalbek. The one dis- 
turbing thought about that ferry is that it seems to have been 
left for General Lee's use, after his defeat at Gettysburg, 
materially aiding him in his escape. 

While we were here the Potomac river gave us an exhibi- 
tion of what it could do, on occasion. After a heavy rain it 
rose twenty-five feet in one night, going above that in the 
next few hours succeeding. From a quiet, peaceful st earn, 
gliding poetically along in its course to the sea, it became a 
wild, raging monster, whose muddy, turbid flood boiled and 
surged as if ready to overwhelm and destroy whatever might 
come near it. Immense trees, torn up by the roots, were borne 
bodily upon its surface, as well as logs, hewn timber, boards, 
rails and all manner of debris. I'he grassy piece of table- 
land, between the river and canal, upon which we had lain 
after crossing to the north side, some days before, and which 
was then high and dry, was now deep under water. 

Just when the river was at its highest the men of our 
brigade, not on other duty, were all taken for a swim. If 
anything else was lacking, there was no lack of water. Two 
of the Twenty-seventh, on a banter, swam the river, more 
than half a mile wide, and formidable and threatening as it 
•was, in other respects. Once was enough, however, and they 



176 iriSTORV OF THE 

went up and recrossed on the ferry, <v/ dcs/iabillc thoiigli they 
were. 

On June 10, our faces were again turned southward. 
General Green had odd theories also about marching troops. 
They resembled the methods which a grannyish old farmer 
might adopt to get his favorite stall-fed calf to the county 
fair. We started at four A. m., with the design of making a 
short march in the cool of the morning, then lying by through 
the heat of the day. This was not bad ; but the old General 
proposed also to have personal charge of e«ch soldier. He 
proposed to regulate the number of drinks of water each one 
should have, when and where he should get them, and how 
much he should drink each time. The same was largely true 
of eating, and various other things, about which we had had 
more or less freedom of choice before this. Those who know 
what the spirit and temper of the volunteer army of '61 to '65 
was, can imagine what a contract the old gentleman had on 
his hands. 

There was considerable delay in getting over the river by 
the ferries. We, therefore, made only six miles the lirst day, 
camping at Falling Waters for the night. Quartermaster 
Sergeant Crose tells of Doctor Woollen's big grey horse jump- 
ing overboard, while crossing, and of the ferryman, to appease 
the Doctor, jumping after him. The Doctor, usually so 
equable and urbane, seems to have been considerably agitated 
over the incident. But the horse reached the shore in due 
time, none the worse for his bath. 

The second day we passed through the loyal and sightly 
town of Martinsburg and on to Bunker Hill, camping near 
where we had spent a night the previous March. The 
third day we passed through Winchester, pitching our tents, 
for a short stay as it proved, south of Newtown. The gen- 
eral reader will understand, doubtless, that other troops, 
under General Fremont, had come into the Valley ahead of 
us. The rebel forces were gone. Hence, during these leis- 
urelv marches, there was no enemy in the case. 

Our brigade commander's theories were put sorely to the 
test during these days. Before starting each morning, every 
soldier who had anything to drink in his canteen, was required 
to pour it out. Then no one was to take a drink until ordered 
to do so by the Brigadier-general. Numerous clear, sparkling^ 
rivulets cross this pike at intervals, usually the output of 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 177 

springs close by. None of them were bridged, and most of 
them were without foot logs, so the soldiers had to wade 
through the cool, tempting water. There are several in- 
stances also, of immense, flowing springs, of the most delicious 
water, near the roadside and in plain view. The weather 
was quite warm and the road dusty. Maybe the General and 
his staff and orderlies did not have a hard task to prevent the 
jaded, thirsty men from helping themselves to water, under 
such circumstances? We laughed for many days, over the 
ludicrous spectacle they afforded, while vainly making the at- 
tempt. At certain stages, however, the column was halted and 
the men -were asked, if not ordered, to take a drink, though 
they were kindly admonished at the same time not to partake 
too freely and assured that another opportunity to drink 
would be given them in good time. If no suitable brook or 
spring was found near the proper place, the mounted men, 
who were dispatched ahead to look after the matter, pumped 
barrels and tubs of water, at some farm house and had them 
ready. 

Another feature of the General's plan was that no soldier 
should leave the ranks except by permission of a commissioned 
oflficer and then under the surveillance of a non-commissioned 
officer. No one was to enter any private house or enclosure. 
No one, enlisted or commissioned, was to march in any other 
order except in his proper position in the column. Any one 
caught straggling or out of his place, was speedily arrested,. 
or hustled into his place again. These regulations, while new 
at this time and regarded as rather severe, were substantially 
enforced at other times, later on. 

When passing through Winchester, the Twenty-seventh 
was supplied with an escort. Lines of armed soldiers, stran- 
gers to us, marched on either side of the regiment. The lines 
were about as heavy as those usually sent with prisoners of 
war. No one of us, on any pretense, was allowed to stop or 
turn aside. There was considerable bandinage among us, 
and between us and the other men, about a bodyguard. 
Colonel Colgrove has stated, in recent years, that General 
Green took this precaution because of the threats ditTcrent 
members of the Twenty-seventh had made to burn the misera- 
ble town, if they should ever see it again, on account of the 
conduct of its citizens when Banks' army passed through it 
on its retreat. We were not aware, at the time, tliat we 

12 



178 niSTORV OP' THE 

were the only regiment receiving such distinguished attention. 
There did not seem to be any thing much to do at New- 
town. The only duty assigned to the men was to guard the 
premises of citizens and to maintain a dignified, military ap- 
pearance at General Green's headquarters. There was no 
picket line or camp guard maintained, and the calls to drill 
were few and far between. All hands seemed to be compla- 
cently waiting for something to turn up. The people about 
Newtown made no concealment of the fact that they were 
greatly pleased over our being driven precipitately out of the 
Valley a few weeks previously. Indeed, they boldy taunted 
us about it, and said they both hoped and believed that the 
same thing would be repeated again, very soon. These things 
they said to us while we were standing with arms in our 
hands, protecting them and their homes from possible harm. 
No greater joy could have been given to the members of the 
Twenty-seventh than to have been with General Sheridan 
when he desolated the Shenandoah valley until, as he said, 
if a crow wanted to fly over it he would have to carry his 
rations with him. Though it was not done to punish the 
citizens, but to prevent the frequent invasions of Pennsylvania, 
it was no more than the citizens deserved. 

General Green's headquarters were in a large stone 
■dwelling-house, in the northern outskirts of the village. The 
house had a fresh, well-preserved appearance, the walls in 
particular. The flinty, blue limestone of which it was built 
•showed no signs of age or traces of wear. Some of us were 
almost paralyzed wheri we discovered that, according to 
figures in the south gable, it had been built almost a hundred 
years. New as everything was where we had always lived, 
an Indiana, this house seemed to us quite a marvel of antiquity. 
A regimental court-martial, composed of commissioned 
•officers, of course, was in session at this time, inquiring into 
charges of various kinds against a number of men of the rank 
and file. It is the first of its kind of which any record has 
■turned up. Captain Cassady was president and Captain 
"Williams was judge-advocate. The records indicate that all the 
members were governed by motives of justice and humanity, 
and had a praiseworthy ambition to proceed strictly in accord- 
ance with the laws, in such cases made and provided. But in 
many instances in the army, some of them in the Twenty- 
seventh, the decisions of courts-martial, where ofKcers were 



TWENTV-SEVENTH INDIANA. 179 

sitting in judgment upon enlisted men, if there was any 
thought of justice, there could have been none of humanity. 
That was a great step in human progress when, by the his- 
toric IMagna Charta, it became a part of the fundamental law 
that in civil life every man shall be tried by a jury of his 
peers. The time will come when the same great law will 
prevail in our volunteer army, 

June 18, we moved from Newtown eastward to the 
Winchester and Front Royal pike, and passed down it to 
within about four miles of Front Royal. On the way 
we passed the camps of a part of Fremont's army. They 
had been operating in West Virginia previous to this. 
We camped in a wide stretch of open country, with no 
town or village near. The position was probably considered 
favorable in a military sense. Though General Sheridan, 
later in the war, in studying the situation of this valley, 
decided that there was no defensible position in it except in 
the vicinity of Harper's Ferry, the one occupied at this time 
could not have been bad. If the enemy should come down 
the Luray valley, as he had done before, we had the Shenan- 
doah river in front of us, while, by coming down the main 
valley, he could not get in our rear. We had better command 
of the railroad also and direct communication with Washing- 
ton and the choice of both lines of retreat. But the fact 
was now, that Jackson, with most of his army, was not 
within a hundred miles of us. A force larger than he had 
■ever been able to muster was boldly waiting an attack from 
him while he was pounding away at our brave but badly hand- 
icapped army in front of Richmond. 

We remained in this position until July 6th, It has 
been impossible to recall or discover any record of much 
that we did while there. In fact to extend the time on 
to the period when the regiment was reunited at Little 
Washington, there is no other equal period of our service 
about which the writer's memory seems so vague. He re- 
members distincty the booming of the cannon for the glori- 
ous Fourth, A little incident impressed it deeply upon 
his mind. It showed the complete alienation of the peo- 
ple of the South from the government and traditions of 
their fathers. The writer's company was doing outpost duty, 
two or three miles from camp, guarding a ford and grist- 
mill on the Shenandoah, catching eels and rusticating gen- 



180 HISTORY OF THE 

erally. He had gone a short distance away from the bivouac 
and was eating blackberries, along a briar-grown fence row. 
Seeing two butternut horsemen approaching, he remained 
quietly concealed to hear what they might be saying. Their 
conversation was evidently about the artillery salute, then 
being fired. As they were passing one said, " Yes, they 
make a great fuss about this Fourth of July. They celebrate 
it all over the North, with ringing of bells, firing of guns, 
parades, barbecues and speeches. They also make a great 
fuss about Washington. They call him the father of their 
country." " Well," answered the other, " I remember, years 
ago, when there used to be something of the kind among us, 
but not lately." There was more of the same tenor. As a 
whole it was a startling revelation to a boy. He had been 
schooled to lofty sentiments about these things. He had no 
other thought only that the Fourth of July marked the birth 
of the best government the world had ever known ; one well 
worthy of the best blood of its citizens. From his very cra- 
dle he had been taught to venerate Washington, and he 
remembered with what swelling of heart he had, again and 
again, thought of Virginia, which was called "The home of 
Washington " and " The mother of presidents," as being also 
the home of one line of his own ancestors. Yet here were two 
grey-haired Virginians coolly talking as if they had no sort of 
interest in, not to say good will for, the country, and none 
even for Washington himself. The subject will come up 
again in this narrative, but very few, indeed, in the Northern 
states, even among those who served long and faithfully to 
put the rebellion down, have any adequate conception of the 
real conditions out of which it sprung. 

Another thing that marked this Fourth was that General 
Milroy came to the camp of the Twenty-seventh during the 
day. He was one of the rising men from Indiana and com- 
manded a brigade at this time. We all felt honored by his 
visit. 

A record says we received our shelter tents at this camp 
above Front Royal. Being written at the time, it is likely 
correct, though we must have used our large tents for a while 
after this. Grose speaks of the big tents being turned in at 
Warrenton, some weeks later. It may be that we received 
the shelter tents a short time before we began using them 
Whenever we received them or began using them, their 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 181 

introduction, and general use in the army, marked an era 
in the war. It was an instance of what seems an insignifi- 
cant thing in itself, but which, coming into general use, works 
a great revolution. The Little Monitor was the most striking 
instance of this kind in our Civil war. The shelter tent was 
scarcely less notable. 

The last and best large tents we used were the " Sibbly " 
tents. They were modeled after the Indian wigwam, round 
at the bottom and running up to a high, sharp peak in 
the center. They were very light and had few neces- 
sary belongings except the naked tent, never leaked or 
blew over, were easily put up and taken down, the space 
in them was high and roomy, and, best of all, they were cool 
in summer, and without any extra device, a fire could be built 
in them at any time. The pole supporting the tent stood 
upon a iron tripod, in the exact center. With a fire between 
the legs of this tripod, the smoke passed out at a small hole 
at tlie apex of the tent and the occupants could sit or He in a 
circle around the fire and be comfortable in very cold weather. 
But they had one objection, common to all large tents ; they 
had to be hauled in wagons when a move was made. There- 
fore, if the roads were bad or overcrowded, so that the teams 
could not keep up with the men, the latter were without shel- 
ter. Often when the teams were late in getting up, and the 
men were weary, they prefered to go shelterless rather than 
unload the wagons and put up the tents. 

W^ith the shelter tents, all this was changed. There was 
a prophecy in its very name ".Shelter Tent." It did afford 
an unfailing shelter ; if not of the best, it was better than none. 
Wherever two soldiers happened to be, or whatever their 
situation in other respects, they might at least have a roof over 
their h.eads. In storm or sunsiiine, with little exertion, in five 
minutes of time, the homeless wayfarers could be undercover. 
If an order came to move on, presto! in one minute, they 
could be ready to go. This meant a great deal. 

When the soldiers, in irony and some ill humor, called 
them '' Dog " and '" Pup" tents, they were also speaking bet- 
ter than they knew. The reason they did this probably was 
because, in getting into them, they had to get down, in a way 
resembling a dog or pup crawling into its kennel. But the dog 
is man's most faithful and devoted, though lowly friend. Noth- 
ing else living goes with him wherever he goes, into all lati- 



182 



HISTORY OF THE 



tudes and longitudes, sharing all his ups and downs, and serv- 
ing him always, to the best of his humble ability. In that 
sense those little tents were indeed " dog tents." 

A shelter tent was composed of two or more pieces of 
stout muslin, each about five feet by six in size. Along one 
side of each piece was a substantial hem. At each end of the 
hem, was a small loop of rope attached. Around the other 
three sides were button holes, six inches apart and back from 



l«s»---. "UT 







A ivKwlMENIAL CamI' Willi ShELTEK TeNTS, TAKEN IN CuBA. 

(Plate kindly loaned by Chaplain Skinner, Fourth-Illinois.) 

each button hole three inches, was a button. At one of the 
corners, opposite the loops of rope, a cord, some six feet long, 
was attached. Each man was given one of these pieces of 
muslin and expected to carry it witli him wherever he went. 
Any two of these pieces were counterparts of each other and 
when buttoned together and stretched over a ridge pole, 
formed a diminutive tent for two men. The loops of rope 
served to stake it to the ground and the cords could be used to 
stay it endways. The only articles to be supplied was a ridge 
pole and stakes. These could usually be obtained very easily, 
but in an emergency guns and bayonets would answer the 
purpose. More commonly, four of these pieces were buttoned 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 183 

together and formed a tent for four men. \\'itli two adtlitional 
pieces, or one piece cut in two diaj^onally, the ends of this toy- 
like tent could be closed up also. This was always done in 
bad weather. When the camp promised to be of some per- 
manence, it was short work for four men to build an oblong 
pen of small logs or poles and stretch the tent over it. When 
the cracks of this pen were daubed with mud, a door cut in 
one end and a fire place built in the other, no soldier, in the 
field, could ask for more comfortable quarters. The shelter 
tent was a happy thought, really a great thouglit. 

Akin to the shelter tent, and its natural and worthy com- 
panions, were the quart pails and small frying pans, which 
were also introduced about this time. How or from whence 
they came nobody could tell. The government did not pro- 
vide them. The thought occurred to some one, and when it 
"was seen what a convenience they were, immediately all had 
them. A fruit can with a bit of wire for a bail, answered for 
the pail, and the half of a canteen, with a stick having a slot 
or split in one end, to form a handle, answered for the frying 
pan. Thousands of soldiers never cared for anything better. 
These three simple little devices brought about a great change 
in the conduct of campaigns, and doubtless had much to do 
with the final results of the war. They not only insured the 
soldier a shelter and means of cooking his food wherever he 
might be, but in doing this they enabled him to push his way 
far beyond where he could have gone otiierwise, and with a 
celerity impossible before. At one stroke these three articles 
cut down by more than one-half that cumberous and often 
fatal impediment of an army — the wagon train. From the 
time of their introduction on to the end, despite the weather 
or the roads, despite wagonmasters, mules or worthless staff" 
officers, the soldier could be happy and useful. He asked of 
the government but two things — a commissary and a com- 
mander — some one to feed and some one to lead. When 
sweet potatoes and razor-back hogs were not too scarce he 
could do fairly well without a commissary, but he always felt 
a little lonesome without at least a major-general. 

Returning to our narrative of events, there is no question 
about our receiving one article at this time. Our friend 
Gordon returned to us a full Ik-dged brigadier and relieved 
General Green as commander of our brigade. It does not 
beget in us unalloyed satisfaction when we find in a diary 



184 HISTORY OF THE 

that the olucers of the Twenty-seventh called upon him in a 
body, to congratulate him on his promotion and return to his 
former command. -'The king is dead ; long live the king." 
In justice to the officers it should be stated, however, that 
there is no record of their having congratulated themselves or 
the men of the regiment over either consummation. Gordon 
had alreadv put upon them an indignity, in an indirect way, 
almost as grievous as was possible. He had selected his en- 
tire staff from his own regiment, ignoring not only the Twenty- 
seventh, but the other two regiments also. What a liberal, 
broad-minded, big-hearted fellow he must have been, forsooth ! 

But our peaceful times in the broad, fertile fields north 
of Front Roval were drawing to a close, as indeed was our 
service in the rich and picturesque Shenandoah Valley. None 
of us were sorry. Though it is a delightful country naturally, 
and it is a satisfaction now to be familiar with its charming 
and historic localities, we were not content to be there. Our 
army was not large enough to act on the offensive, and to do 
otherwise is not agreeable to soldiers in time of war. 

But important developments were at hand. The three 
armies heretofore acting separately, under Banks, Fremont 
and McDowell, had been consolidated into one, to be known 
as the Army of Virginia. On the 26th of June, by appoint- 
ment of the President, Gen. John Pope had assumed com- 
mand. From the first it had been the design of the authorities 
that the theater of operations of this larger army should be 
east of the Blue Ridge. Inasmuch as the plans for the cap- 
ture of Richmond, by McClellan's army, had failed, it was 
now more important than ever that we should be on the move. 

Tile selection of General Pope for this command was not, 
as far as the writer remembers or finds in any record, offensive 
to the members of the Twenty-seventh. It may not matter, 
but it is true. Many in high places questioned it stoutly. 
Some became involved in ugly complications because of their 
refusal to acquiesce in it heartily. Whatever General Pope 
might or might not have accomplished under other conditions, 
it is plain that he had no chance as it was. Most unfortu- 
nately, those who have nothing whatever to do with the 
jealousies, bickerings and sulkings, such as followed Pope's 
appointment, pay the larger part of the dreadful penalty for 
them in the fruitless sacrifice of their loyal lives. That was 
sadly true in this instance. 



CHAPTER XV. 



HAZEL RIVER BRIDGE— CULPETER AND LITTLE 
WASHINGTON. 

On July Cth, we were on the move once more. Starting 
a little late, we marched leisurely, crossed the Shenandoah, 
passed through the edge of Front Royal and camped a mile 
beyond, on the road to Warrenton. On the 7th, after a very 
hot, tiresome march, we pitched our tents on a shady hillside, 
near Flint Hill, having crossed the Blue Ridge at Chester Gap. 
Over tliis same road the bulk of Lee's army passed the follow- 
ing summer, en route to Pennsylvania. 

We can never forget the great abundance of tine cherries 
we found on our march that day. A succession of trees, from 
one to three feet in diameter, with immense spreading tops, 
shading several square rods, stood along the road, and they 
were bending under a load of such luscious fruit as we had 
never seen before. The cherries were as large as fair-sized 
plums and as sweet as raisins. The boys broke off the limbs 
and, carrying them along in the ranks, stripped them as they 
went. The temptation to stop also and gather cherries may 
have increased the straggling that day. Not over half the 
men were in ranks when the evening halt was made. But the 
excessive heat was the principal cause. There were several 
sun-strokes in the other regiments. In ours, one or two men 
had serious attacks of stomach cramp — the result of drinking 
too much water. 

On the 8th. we moved on to Gains Cross Roads, a short 
march. Here we remained two nights. Both mornings we 
were hustled up and into line before daylight. Two rumors, 
or theories, were current about this at the time. One was 
that an attack was really expected; the other, that it was to 
test our readiness for such an emergency. 

On the 11th, the march was continued. But, at Waterloo 
Bridge, cajne an order which was to give the Twenty-seventh 
a new experience. Heretofore we had mostly served along 
with a considerable army. Several regiments, at least, had 



186 HISTORY OF THE 

been constantly at hand. Here our regiment itself was divided 
and the different parts were each to be alone for awhile. 
Colonel Colgrove was ordered to take the right wing and 
report for duty to General Hatch, of the cavalry. Lieutenant- 
Colonel Morrison, with the left wing, after remaining one day 
with the brigade, followed the right wing, and proceeded on 
to Culpeper Court House. 

The wing under Colonel Colgrove retraced its steps to 
Amissville, from thence by a country road leading through 
Thomsonville, it arrived at the crossing of Hazel River, the 
evening of the 12th. Here the cavalry had a slight skirmish 
and, making a quick dash, prevented the bridge from being 
destroyed. The battalion went into camp on a hill over- 
looking the bridge. The next day w^as Sunday and a large 
number of colored people visited the camp. We were the 
first Yankee soldiers any of them iiad ever seen. They hailed 
us with miconcealed cordiality and delight. They were willing 
to " Pat Juber," sing, dance or do almost anything for our 
amusement. And they were kept busy. The boys may have 
trespassed upon good nature somewhat, but the simple-hearted 
slaves did not seem to think so. 

The enlistment of the negroes as soldiers was already 
under discussion. So, as throwing light upon the subject, 
the Colonel formed a squad of them in line, supplied them 
with muskets and tried drilling them in the manual of arms. 
They were placed at attention, order arms. When the com- 
mand "Shoulder Arms '' w^as given, all showed their ivory 
and remained motionless except one old man, of glossy ebony, 
evidently a character among them. With an expression of 
assurance on his face and a turning out of the white of his 
eyes, as if to say, "You needn't think I don't know that 
much," he complacently laid the musket upon his shoulder, 
hunter fashion. 

General Pope, in one of his much-talked-about orders, 
had said something about living off of the country. As far as 
known, we had the usual amount of rations at this time, but 
the country was also made to contribute liberally. Like 
Dives in the parable, we fared sumptuously every day. The 
fields were everywhere full of delicious berries and, by hook or 
crook, fresh meat and poultrv found their way into our mess- 
kettles bountifully. Those who were fortunate enough to 
have a hook and line, or were able to borrow one, also had all 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 187 

the fresh lish they wanted. In short, the battalion gave itself 
over to liaving a good time. Always on the alert for any 
lurking foe, never straying far from camp, muskets ready 
loaded, capped and kept where they were handy, we throwed 
ofiF all other cares and enjoyed ourselves all we could. The 
river was at a good stage and the water in fine condition for 
bathing. Only a limited number were allowed to be in the 
river at a time, but the quota was seldom found short. 

One morning while we were here, perhaps the first, there 
was a little flurry and, but for prudent, soldierly management, 
might have been bloodshed among our own troops. A de- 
tachment of Union cavalry came up from the rear, but did not 
seem to know of our being there. When they sighted our 
pickets they swung out into a field at a gallop and began 
forming for a charge. Of course, each side took the other for 
enemies. A fog which prevailed at the time, helped on the de- 
lusion. The long roll was beaten in our camp and in very short 
order we were ready to give the parties, whoever they might 
be, a warm reception. Yet, coming from the direction they 
had, there was a strong conviction on our side that the cavalry 
must belong to our army. Luckily no shots were fired before 
an understanding was arrived at. 

Company D rejoined this detachment of the regiment at 
this time, having been absent since the forepart of June. They 
had been detailed at Winchester to guard prisoners. On June 
13th, they started to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with four hun- 
dred and forty-three of their grey-coated charge. They 
marched by way of Martinsburg and Williamsport to Hagers- 
town; thence they went by rail. Returning by the same route 
they again reached Winchester the evening of the 18th. From 
then until July 7th they did provost duty in Winchester, 
when they started, under orders to report to the regiment. 
Finding it gone from above Front Royal, they followed on 
and overtook us at Hazel river. 

On July 16th, Colonel Colgrove, leaving Companies C 
and D, under Major Johnson, to liold this position, moved on 
with the others to Culpeper Court House. Following two 
regiments of cavalry, they started in a heavy rain. After one 
of the muddiest and most slavish marches anybody ever made, 
they joined the left wing at Culpeper, that evening. As much 
as the great war seethed and surged around this place after- 
ward, the Twenty-seventh was the first Union infantry to reach 



188 HISTORY OF THE 

it. The surroundiiifr country is rich and beautiful. The soil 
every where is of a dark reddish color, as if a vast brick-yard 
might have at some period embraced it all. The town, how- 
ever, had few of the marks of being the center of a well-to-do 
population, but all the evidences of being under the domina- 
tion of slavery. It was old, dilapidated and unkempt. The 
people were virulent secessionists. Reason, conciliation and 
justice were completely gone. There was said to be one ex- 
ception to this, in the Hon. John Minor Bott, an ex-congress- 
man and prominent citizen. When we were at Culpeper the 
second time our camp was near his house. We saw consider- 
able of him and while he seemed greatly grieved that the 
sections should be at war, lie did not justify the South in 
beginning it. 

While at Culpeper, in imitation of William the Con- 
querer, the country was parceled out among us. Colonel 
Colgrove was ^lilitary Governor of the county, Lieutenant- 
colonel Morrison was Commander of the Post, Captain Burge 
was Provost Marshal, etc., etc. Companies E and K were 
quartered in vacant rooms in the business part of the town, 
while the other companies pitched their tents in the pleasant 
grounds of the Military Institute, near the railroad depot. 

One of the days spent in Culpeper was Sunday. Sev- 
eral of the regiment attended services at the Episcopal 
church. Their devotional spirit was rudely disturbed and 
their Sunday temper badly ruffled by hearing the throne of 
Grace addressed in plain English, and in a good, round 
sonorous voice, in behalf of Jeff Davis and his despisable Con- 
federacv. Colonel Colgrove had not, up to that time, given 
as much attention to the subject of prayer as it doubtless 
deserves. But for a while now he could think of little 
else. He even developed into something of an ecclesiastic. 
He became possessed with the idea that he could improve the 
liturgy of the church. Just the course pursued in the case is 
not known, but, after that, one paragraph in the Book of 
Common Prayer was conspicuous by its omission, if not by 
its absence. 

But this masquerading with high sounding titles and 
reveling in unwonted indulgences was to have an ending. On 
the 25th, the regiment started to rejoin the brigade, which had 
moved to Little Washington, about twenty-five miles north- 
west of Culpeper. The first day we marched to Woodville. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 189 

On the second we reached our destination, passing, on the 
way, the camps of the men under Seigel. Some of them were 
maneuvering in a wood, among them being a battery of small 
cannon, mounted on the backs of mules. Soldiers, with their 
usual readiness and lack of fastidiousness as to names, dubbed 
these " Jackass Batteries." They were somebody's short cut 
to the putting down of the rebellion, but proved useless when 
the real test came. One of the troublesome contingencies 
always was that the mule might take it into his head to turn 
around suddenly, about the time the gun was to go off. 

In the meantime what had become of tlie two companies 
(C and D) left at the bridge over Hazel river.'' Figuratively 
speaking, they had been in clover all the time. No other 
troops molested them ; fishing and bathing continued good 
and the berries, poultry and hogs held out famously. To be 
thus isolated for a while was a positive luxury in itself. If 
one went to the spring, or after wood, or on some other com- 
mon errand, he did not find the whole country overrun with 
others on the same quest. He could look out over a pleasant 
landscape without his vision taking in acres upon acres of 
white tents and a myriad of blue coats. To be sure, it was 
comfortable to have these last around when cannon were 
booming and muskets w'cre cracking. They did not in the 
least mar the landscape at such a time. But too many of 
them did become a little monotonous under some other con- 
ditions. 

As usual, the natives about the bridge quickly warmed 
to the boys. No amount of secession prejudice or Virginia 
pride could avail against the youth, courtesy and manliness of 
the Northern soldiers. A few days sufficed to convert the 
most obdurate into cordial acquaintances, if not fast friends. 
That they w^ere required to contribute a pig, now and then, 
to our larder, or that a favorite chanticleer ever and anon dis- 
appeared from the barnyard, did not seem to disturb their 
equanimity in the least. Still, there came an ending On 
the 26th, the Major, under orders, led the two companies back 
to Amissville and Gains Cross Roads, thence to Little Wash- 
ington. The march w^as uneventful, except some disturbance 
raised by the men, one in particular. The suiter had come up, 
and, finding the two companies at Hazel river, had remained 
with them, instead of going on to the larger part of the regi- 



190 IIISTORV OF THE 

ment. Among his merchandise was something in long, bhick 
bottles. It was intended mostly for officers and " for medical 
purposes only." When some of the men got hold of it, it 
made mischief, as it did sometimes when some of the officers 
got it. The Major had no end of worry in maintaining order 
in the ranks and in getting the detachment along. It ended 
finally in one soldier marching at the end of a rope, in rear of 
the wagon. Arriving at Little Washington slightly in 
advance of the other companies, these two pitched their tents 
near those of the Sixteenth Indiana Battery. The other com- 
panies arrived a few hours later. This battery had recently 
been assigned to our division and did not remain long. 

It is hard to understand why the Twenty-seventh should 
be required to march to this place, only to march back 
again within a few days, as indeed it is to see why any large 
army should occupy such a position. Little Washington was 
not upon any route likely to be taken by the enemy, or 
upon which we would want to go ourselves. But here we 
were. The situation was very sightly. A wide stretch of open 
country afforded fine views in all directions. To the west- 
ward the Blue Ridge majestically bounded the horizon, and 
smaller kobs and sugar loavea relieved the monotony in other 
places. The vast fields of wheat, which had just been cut and 
put in shock when the troops arrived, were speedily gathered 
by them and used for bedding. Everything else in sight was 
appropriated in the same way. The epidemic of sickness, 
spoken of by others, did not prevail with us. Possibly the 
diet of berries, fresh meat and vegetables, at Hazel River and 
Culpeper, acted as a preventive. Possibly also, for once, we 
did not fall under the censure of our irrascible brigade com- 
mander ; not being of those to whom he refers as eating 
" Every miserable, crabbed, green apple they came across." 

The weather at Little Washington was torrid. It was of 
that sultry, oppressive kind which we do not always have, 
even in warm summers. We drilled a great deal, mostly in 
the larger field maneuvers. One part of the day it was bat- 
talion, and in the other, brigade drill. At some of our battal- 
ion drills, Gordon, being present, drilled the regiment. Really, 
the writer scarcely recalls another instance, during the year or 
nearly so which we served under him, when he betrayed any 
sign of trying to inspire the Twenty-seventh with any regard 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 191 

for himself, or showed us the least courtesy or consideration 
that would tend towards that result. During these battalion 
drills he did speak, not fulsomely, but kindly and encourag- 
ingly, of our successes, and was reasonably forbearing and 
patient with our blunders. And we all felt drawn toward 
him. No telling but that at this time, or almost any other, he 
might have made us his devoted henchmen. There could not 
have been an equal number of men in the army with greater 
admiration for a well drilled-officer, or more anxious to be 
well drilled themselves, than were we, after a little experience 
of army life. 

We all remember the two grand reviews held here, 
■though perhaps not prominently. We never did idolize 
grand reviews. The first was held by General Banks, most 
likely in preparation for the other, held later by General 
Pope. This was the first we had seen of Pope. He was a short, 
stout man, with thick, sandy whiskers. The Greencastle boys 
seemed greatly impressed with his striking resemblance to one 
of their citizens. If he was vain and self conceited, as some al- 
leged and as some of his first General Orders savored of, he did 
not betray it at this review. He was modestly uniformed and 
equipped, for one of his rank, and there was nothing swell or 
ostentatious in his movements or bearing. Gordon, in writing 
of this review, takes occasion to refer to us as " That incorrig- 
ible Twenty-seventh Indiana." If all he alleges was true, it 
would mean nothing. If the whole of it was not the product of 
a disordered brain, it is more than can be said of most of his 
statements. Another fact stated by him in the same connec- 
tion has a stronger presumption of truth in its favor. It is 
that his headquarters were at this time the daily scene of 
profane, indecent and even disloyal utterances, all of them 
unrebuked by him. 

Ex-President Van Buren died at this time, and, among 
other things, a salute consisting of the regulation number of 
guns at sunrise and sunset and one every half hour through 
the day, was fired by a battery close to our camp. In con- 
nection with it the conduct of an old darkey cook, attached to 
•one of the companies, was very ludicrous. He was an ex- 
tremely simple, ignorant old fellow, of the field-hand type of 
slaves. He was probably as superstitious also as his most re- 
mote ancestor on the banks of the Niger. The report of the 



192 HISTORY OF THE 

cannon seemed really to scare him almost to death. No- 
dumb animal was ever more completely overcome with fear. 
All day long he lay panting and trembling in his tent, part of 
the time with his head under a blanket. It was rather a 
pitiful spectacle to go around, as many did, and take a look at 
him. 

But in the evening, almost famished with thirst and 
not hearing a gun for some minutes, he ventured to the spring 
at the edge of the camp for water. Just as he had filled his 
vessels, boom! went a gun. Instantly he sprawled himself 
flat on the ground. Then, supposing probably that the 
usual interval w^ould elapse between guns, he was slowly re- 
covering himself, when boom ! went another. The time had 
come for the evening salute, and guns were fired at intervals 
of possibly a minute. At the second gun the poor old fellow 
went all to pieces. Tub, buckets and dipper were sent flying 
in all directions, and he threw himself down flatter than 
ever. But in a moment he began a series of runs, falls, dodges 
and gyrations, too funny to be described. He first ran to a 
tree, not faraway. After hugging this for a while, most pas- 
sionately, he ran to his tent. In doing this, however, he per- 
formed so many antics, and was so evidently sincere in his 
panic and demoralization, that the whole regiment and many 
from other commands, went wild with laughter and derision 
When he was hugging the tree he might have felt safe there 
but for some one throwing a clod of dirt among the limbs. 
As it broke and rattled down among the leaves, hurtling can- 
ister could not have frightened him more. He acted as if he 
thought the judgment day had come. 

A few times here, General Banks maneuvered his entire 
corps. It was a novel and inspiring sight, one we never saw 
before or afterward. Few locations afforded level ground 
large enough for handling so many men at the same time. 
This experience developed the somewhat curious fact that the 
older regiments, ours among others, did not understand the 
bugle calls. In our regiment, and most other older regiments 
with which we were associated, the bugle was never used. 
Drill commands were given entirely by word of mouth, and 
the " calls" of the camp were beaten entirely upon the drum. 
General Banks had a voice remarkable for its clearness, and 
he could be heard farther than most men, but was not able to 



r w K N T y - s K \- , : n i- i i n i > i a n a . 



1 '.)•.•. 



reach ten or twelve tliou^aiul men. Hence he used the bugle, 
thou<jh under some diHicullies, with us and others. 

We received two months' pay at Little W^ishinirton. The 
writer still has a piece of gold (very small) which he received 
from the hands of the paymaster there. This was the last 
time gold was paid to us while in the armv — the last we saw 
circulating as money for manv vears. 



r^ 










Col.-Sekgt. Lew is D. Pavm:. Cori'. Jeromk Si.m.ms. Co. C. 
(Morlally Wounded at Antietam.i (Killed at Chancellors\ illr.) 



13 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Ci:i:)AR MOl XTAIX. 

The writer first saw the light Au<,nist 1), IM"). With 
sliglit calculation anyone can see that he has special reasons 
for renienibering the battle of Cedar Mountain, 

It is not within the scope of this narrative to explain the 
movements of armies. However, an angry storm-clond, 
already laiger than a man's hand, was fast gathering over the 
one with which we were connected. The army in front of 
Richmond, under McClellan, having withdrawn to the James 
river, orders had gone forth bringing it back to the line directly 
in front of Washington. This left the enemv free to move in 
that direction himself. lie did not delay. His advance 
towards Culpeper called for a speedv concentration of Pope's 
armv at that place. 

We left Little Washington. X'irginia. August 0. Ordi- 
narily a smart day's march (twenty-five miles) woulil have 
brought us to Culpeper. As it was we put in three 
days in going, and suffered much at that. The weather 
was still very oppressive, the dust rose up into our faces in 
blinding, suffocating sheets, and it appeared that wherever 
we went or tried to go, or whatever time of day or night we 
started, an endless train of wagons was in our way. Surely, 
where no regard whatever is paid to night or dav, just a little 
management would separate troops and trains. One could 
start earlier, take a different road or something. But, during 
the first year of the war, both would frequently be up all 
night and inactive, onlv to impede anil harass each other all 
the following dav. Wagon trains seemed to be Cietieral 
Banks" evil genius. ICncumbered with them throughout most 
his career, he iinallv had his last and most important cam- 
paign — the one up Red river — brought to untimely defeat and 
failure, through the mischief of a wagon train, long drawn 

out. 



'1' W E N r Y-S K \' K X III I \ I ) I A .\ A . 1 * 1.") 

Part of this inarch was made at iiiL^lit. While we escaped 
the tierce heat of the sun in that way, we encountered other 
evils almost as bad, the principal one being the sore lack of 
water. The dust was almost as bad at ni^ht as throuLjh the 
day. and, perhaps without seeing it, we breathed it more 
freely. ( )ur throats soon became as parched as the Sahara 
desert. But the wells and springs could not be found in the 
night, and we were obliged to go without water largely. We 
linallv reached Culpeper at 11 i-. m., August 8, and camped 
adjoining the town on the west. 

The next day, ^August 9, we started, under sudden ordtrs. 
about 10 A. M., passed through Culpeper and out on the road 
leading south. There was something mystifving about the 
situation. We had heard heavy cannonading and were evi- 
dently making a forced maich. We had started so promptly 
that our camp had been left almost intact, tents standing and 
teams not harnessed. Vet. in passing (General Pope's head- 
quarters in Culpeper, we saw him sitting on the porch, in 
apparent unconcern, with staff and orderlies lounging around, 
taking their ease. A mile or two beyond the town we passed 
a full division of troops in camp, resting serenely in their tents 
or standing along the road watching us go by. 

Meantime we pressed forward on quick time, with long 
intervals between rests. The air was as hot as a bake oven. 
Going directly south, near the noon hour, the sun beat merci- 
lesslv into our faces. Our small, cloth caps, with narrow 
visers, were poor protection for our heads and eyes, while, 
with our heavy, regulation dress coats tightly buttoned, our 
bodies seemed to be a furnace of fire. Not more than one or 
two of the Twenty-seventh were sunstruck and fell down in 
convulsions, but scores of other regiments were affected in 
that way. As we passed along in the intense heat we saw 
many of them King on the ground, frothing at the mouth, 
rolling their eyeballs and writhing in painful contortions. 

This march was the first of several almost incredible 
things accomplished that day. In August, lI^Sl), a week after 
the twenty-seventh anniversary of the battle. Comrade Bres- 
nahan and the writer drove over this road in a comfortable 
top buggy. It was not an extremely hot day, though a warm 
one. We started from Culpeper immediately after an early 
dinner. The w^riter was near the exact age then that Colonel 
Colgrove haci been on that former August day, when he led 



I'M HISTORY OF THE 

the Twenty-seventh out to its baptism of blood. Manv cir- 
cumstances and associations combined to bring back most 
vividly that never-to-be-forgotten time. One incident after 
another, not thought of for years, came in to our minds as dis- 
tinctly as if it had happened only the week before. But to 
realize how we, loaded and dre-sed as we had been, could 
stand it to march over that ground, in ranks, with so manv 
others, in blinding dust and in heat far more intense and op- 
jiressive than it was now, climbing those long, steep hills and 
rockv ledges, all of it under the strain of impending battle, 
with its many exciting contingencies, was more than we were 
able to do. It seemed to both of us like some dreadful, real- 
istic dream, apparently true, yet actually impossible. The 
march, witli its attendant conditions, harrowing and horrible 
as the recollection of it is, was not a dream, however. In 
what must have been a very short time, distance considered, 
we arrived near the little stream known as Cedar Run, bor- 
dering what was to be the battlefield, eight miles from the 
starting point. We halted on high ground, just before reach- 
ing the run, and hundreds of the men hastened eagerly on to 
the run. to drink, bathe their throbbing temples and fill their 
canteens. 

This Cedar Run is only a small stream, not over a rod 
wide. At tiiis season of the year the water in it is whoIK the 
output of springs. From the elevated points on its Culpep- 
per side most of the prominent features of the battle field can 
be seen, as well as some of the ground actually fought over. 
The road from Culpeper, though its general direction is al- 
most due south, runs here southwesterly. Beyond the run 
the land is cleared on both sides of the road for some distance 
back. On the left side, in particular, there is no timber any 
where near to obstruct the view. On that side the country 
is mostly an undulating valley or plain, lower than the coun- 
try surrounding it. Rising out of this plain, a mile or more 
beyond the run, is Cedar mountain, a huge, regular mound of 
rock, generally covered with soil, in shape resembling an in- 
verted kettle. As one looks down the road from a position 
above Cedar Run, the mountain is almost directly in front of 
liim. being but slightly to his left. It is cleared on the sides 
(ibservable from this position, well up to the top. A.- we 
looked at it that day clouds of smoke, near the timber line. 
marked the location of rebel artillery, which was keeping up 



TWKXTV-SEVKXTH INDIANA. 107 

a regular, but rather harmless, Hre upon our men, while thev 
were moving into position, between us and the mountain. 

It is a curious fact, showing how a battle may get its 
name, that this elevation does not seem to have been called 
Cedar Mountain previous to the battle. It was known prin- 
cipally, if not wholly, as •' Slaughter's Mountain." after a 
man or family residing, or that had resided, in the vicinitv. 
Hut bv confusing the name of tlie insignificant stream, aloncr 
which our line of battle was first formed, with tlie mountain, 
which was prominent in the landscape, our newspaper corres- 
pondents and ofticers. all strangers to the locality, in their 
di-patches. aiinounced to tlie world that tlie battle of " Cedar 
Mountain "' had been fought. .So it has stood and will stand 
until doom's day. 

Another fact, scarcely less curious, is that the battle was 
not toLiglit upon the mountain at all and very little of it was 
fought upon its slopes. The principal part of the contest 
was waged on the slopes of another elevation, almost a rival 
of the mountain in height, and in the valley between the two. 
This narrative has to do with this last, rugged lidge entirely. 
Though the gifted poet has pictured the Twenty-seventh as 
"On OKI Cedar Mountain's side," it was only by -'poetic 
licence " tiiat he could do so. 

The Twenty-seventh was really never on Cedar Mountain 
or ir- sides. This ridge in which we are so deeply interested 
is to the right of the road over which we had come to the 
field; in fact, the road, after passing over one end of the ridge 
where it is not very high, bears more to the right and passes 
along its base, between it and Cedar Mountain. Tliis con- 
tinued curye in tlie road must be borne in mind : for while it 
cro-ses C^dar Run nearly at a right angle it soon comes to 
be almost parallel with it. So that, when we moved to our 
assigned position, though we appeared to be going directly 
away from the road, we did not get as far away from it as it 
seemed to us. 

We had l)ut a few minutes to get water and take breath, 
when w^e again had orders to fall in, and marched to the 
right, across the fields to the Brown farm house. This was 
the second house up the run from the road. The first and 
second houses then located in that direction resembled each 
other in many particulars. Each was on a high hill, with a 
deep valley or swale on the side towarils the road : each had a 



r.As 



ni>i<)m oi- riiK 



s]iring, in a clump of large trees, under the hill behind it. etc. 
(jordon places the distance from the road to the Brown 
house at three-fourths of a mile. It is really over a mile. He 
also speaks of a ridge extending from the road to the house. 
If there is such a ridge we did not travel upon it. All of those 







Mat o5 



who were afoot that dav will doubtless remember the two 
deep valleys, scooped down to the water level, both of them. 
and the two long, steep hills which had to be climbed before 
the Brown house was reached. If they do not remember 
them they will know they are there, if they go as middle-aged 
men, not much U'^ed of late to such exertion, and walk, as 
Comrade Bresnahan and the writer did, from the road to the 
house over the exact route taken by the Tliird Brigade.* 



*M:iny maps are in error with reference to this house. Jn the miip prepared fi>r tin.- 
comuiittee on the conduct of the war, (jordon's hngade is located at the first house mil 
from the road, and other posi:i(.iDS are chaoKed rehitively. 



TWEN I V-SE\'P:\ I II INDIANA. 1 'JU 

The Twenty-seventh Hrst luilted and formed in line on 
the slope in front of the l?io\vn house, facing towards the run, 
stacked arms and broke ranks. But almost immediately 
came orders to fall in antl move in to the timber in rear of the 
house. Whether this move was for concealment or comfort 
docs not appe ir. The shade was certainly grateful. 

From what has already been said about the relation of 
the main road and this little stream towards which we were 
now facing, it will be understood that we we^e facing the road 
also ; and. as lias been said, it was not as far away directly in 
front of us as we might think if we did not know that the 
road cur\ed around the hill towards our present position. 
The distance is perhaps not much over three-fourths of a mile. 
But that space is all occupied by the ridge before mentioned 
as rivaling in height and ruggedness Cedar Mountain itself.. 
Though cleared on the sides bordering the road the side im- 
mediately in front of us, as well as the whole of its crown, 
was heavilv wooded. We could not see a rod beyond the 
run. Little did anv of us comp'"ehend the strength of the 
force that was massing bcvond that timbered ridge. 

W'iiile we were waiting in rear of the Brown tarm- 
iiouse tliere came an order for two companies from the 
Twenty-seventh to act as flankers on the right. Companies 
C and F were detailed for this duty. With part of Company 
C as skirmishers, they moved half a mile or so to the right 
and front. There they were posted upon a hill, commanding 
a wide stretch of country, with skirmishers well out on front 
and ilanks. This was done under the personal- direction of 
Colonel Colgrove, who then retumcd to the regiment, leav- 
ing Lieutenant Bloss, of Company F. in command. 

These two companies were not recalled when the regi- 
ment was ordered into battle : so thev were not engaged. 
Neither were the.v notified when our armv abandoned its 
position that night. AVhen it was ascertained late in the 
night, by the companies themselves, that the}' were far inside 
of the enemy's line. Lieutenant liloss, ably counseled and 
assistetl by Lieutenant Lee. of Company C. led the com- 
panies by a circuitous route, following wood roads and cut- 
ting across fields, safely back to the regiment. It wa- by 
this wise and timely action onlv that the men of the two 
companies wete saved from a term in rebel prisons. In 
making the circuit the two companies were more thorougii 



200 IIISTOKN" OF riiK 

than tliey planned, and passed entirely around the tiank of 
the Union army. Once in the rear, they experienced no little 
dillicultv in (getting to the front again. Some of Siegel's 
men had come up and were acting as provost guards. Their 
duty was to prevent men from straggling to the rear, but at 
tir^t they were as nuich set against men going one wav as an- 
other. Eventually the thought seemed to work its way 
through their thick skulls that our men could not disgrace them- 
selves or the armv very badlv hv going to the front; so they 
sutYered them to pass. 

Six companies of the Thiril Wisconsin were also detached 
\<'hile we were waiting behind the IJrown house. They 
were sent into the timber on the hill in our front, and were 
later carried into action with another brigade. 

Tliere had been regular cannonading through most of the 
day, at times heavy. One large cannon that was fired at reg- 
ular intervals by the rebels, will be especially remembered. 
Picket firing had also been constant since our arrival on the 
field. 

For an account of the marshalling of the forces on both 
sides, and the main outlines of the battle, the reader is referred 
to the general histories. What a deluge of regret and disap- 
pointment, not to say indignation and resentment, rolls in 
upon us even yet, when we retlect up<Mi the fact that just 
b-hind that wooded hill were two full divisions of the enemy. 
One of them, almost twice as large as Banks' entire available 
force, was well posted, on ground of its own choosing, and 
the other was near enough to be in ready support. Brigade for 
brigade, regiment for regiment and man for man. the enemy 
outnumbered us close to an even three to one. ^'et within 
.4ve miles was one of the largest and, as subsecpient service 
proved, one of the best divisions in our armv, resting comfort- 
ably in their camps.* Another full corps, larger than Banks", 
might be on the ground but for a most stupid blunder or inten- 
tional delay, on the part of its commander. + Even the men 
we have at hand are not to be used with intelligent concert of 
action. Not over two-thirds of them, possibly not over one- 
half, are to grapple with the unecjual foe at any one time. In 
our case, three small regiments are to be insanelv hurled alone 
against the two overmastering divisions. I'ndersuch hapless, 



*First Divisicm. First Corps. 
tSeigel's. 



TWENTV-SE\KNT11 I N P I A N A . liO 1 

hopeless and inismanaLjed conditions must we try to do sonie- 
tliiiicr for our deeply imperiled country. 

From the cleared land about the l>ro\vn farm house we 
could see some of the earlier movements of our forces. Far 
to our left we saw the line of battle as it advanced in mar- 
tial order to the attack, ihouojh it passed behind the point of 
timber, and out of our view, before it opened fire, it may 
have been owing to the condition of the atmosphere, or the 
contlguration of the <^rouud, but nuisketiv scarcely ever 
sounded to us so intense and wicked as it did at Cedar Mount- 
ain. During Hooker's lierce onslaught at Antietam, or Sickles' 
desperate resistance at (iettysburg, both of which we were 
near enough to hear very distinctly, the volume of musketry 
was greater. It was evident that more men were engaged. 
But this evening at Cedar jSJountain the firing seemed 
unusuallv energetic and terrifying. Evidently from the start 
the combatants were at close quarters and in plain sight of 
each other, and many considerations urgeil everv man to do his 
utmost. 

]Momentarilv the Twenty-seventh expected orders to join 
in the furious work. Drawn to their feet to see as much as 
possible of the awful drama, the men assembled together until, 
when the order was finally given to fall in, most of them were 
alreadv in their places. A moment before we of the Twenty- 
seventh were called for, the Second Massachusetts received 
orders and started back in the direction we had lately come. 
When we had taken arms we moved brisklv a sliort distance 
in the same direction. But before we had gone far an order 
came that we were to return and advance straight towards 
what had been our front. We, therefore, halted, about-faced 
and maiched back to the point from which we had started. 
There we formed in line of battle, facing towards the creek and 
wooded hill. We throw out guides and start down the slope. 
'■ Double quick I" The order comes from Cjordon and is re- 
peated by Colonel Colgrove. 

Now begins another incredible achievement. How 
the men of the Twenty-seventh passed down that slope, 
crossed the run, c limed th:it rugged, uneven and overgrown 
hill, forging their way up to the edge of the wheat field be- 
yond the crest, all at a double quick, with any one able to 
stand on his feet at the end of it, is more than incredible — it 
is miraculous. From the starting point to the run is ten rods. 



'20'2 \n>\i)\iy oi" iHR 

The banks of the run are from six to eight feet, almost per- 
pendicuhii. It was with great difficulty that Comrade Bres- 
nahan and llie writer, on our visit to tiie field, could cross it at 
all. Five or six rods from the run the ascent of the h'll be- 
gins. \Vhere the left wing of the Twent vseventh struck the 
slope it rises at an angle o\' almost fortv-lixe degrees. All the 
way up the surface is not only steep, but mostlv very broken. 
Ravines, gulches, ledges of rock and innumerable loose stones, 
large and small, impede the progress at everv ste|i. Trees 
and low bushes stand thick, with fallen tops and limbs and a 
tangle of vines and briars in manv places, next to impenetrable. 

At the run the men jumped, sliil or tumbled recklesslv 
down to the water, rushed across ami clambered, lifted, or 
pulled each other up the opposite bank. Here there was just 
the briefest halt to correct the alignment. Init nothing of a 
breathing spell. At this point it was that tiie broken rem- 
nant of the six companies of tlie Third Wisconsin emerged 
from the woods. ^\ moment before thev appearetl their 
colonel had ridden up and appealed to the Twenty-seventh, 
with much warmth, to go to their assistance, representing 
that tiiey were sutTering \ erv badlv. As thev passed around 
our flanks our ascent of tiie hill began. At the command 
''Forward, double quick!" the line moved promptly into the 
jungle. The men parted the bushes, pushed aside the limbs, 
crawled under or broke through vines and briars, steadied or 
pulled themselves up acclivities by seizing hold of roots and 
twigs, dodged around trees, leaped the washouts and stumbled 
over stones. With wild enthusiasm and mad resolution they 
overcame a thousand obstacles. 

Colonel Colgrove in his report estimates the distance 
from the run to the wheat field at a quarter of a mile. Com- 
rade Bresnahan and the writer, after a careful survey, found 
it more than twice that far. Think of it! Such a distance. 
over such ground, clothed and e()uipped as soldiers then were, 
with the weather unusually hot, even for an August afternoon 
in a .Southern climate. In going carefully over in retro- 
spect, the entire career of this regiment, standing again on 
every important spot of ground where it made a record, 
endeavoring t "> judge of everything by the conservati>in of 
mature years, the writer was impressed, as he reviewed the 
scenes and recalled the facts of this unfortunate day. that there 
was a physical strain and burden ;^ut upon those who were 



'iwKN r\-si-;\' i;\ I II indi.wa. 20-5 

present then iiKiri' severe and tryinj^ ihun at any other time, 
and far more so than often falls to tlie lot of men anywhere. 

As the Twenty-sex enth acKanced through the woods sev- 
eral indi\ idiial rehe's were encountered. They coukl scarcely 
have been skirmishers, as thev did not seem to he expectin<^ our 
our ap]:)roach. .So dense was the (rrowtli of timber that the first 
recojjfnition from either side was, in most cases, at less than a 
rod distant. Some surrendered, others ran away, and still 
others showed light. One, with more valor than discretion, 
seized a member of our Comjian\- A, with murderous ferocity 
and intent. Another member of Company A, comprehend- 
ing tlie situation, instantlv shot the aggressor dead, the ball 
scattering his brains over the one assailed. 

Ked in the face, panting for breath, almost ready to drop 
ilown with heat and fatigue, the advance struck the fence 
bordering the wheat field, without knowing it was there. 
Colonel Colgrove, in his report, well savs the regiment did 
net all reach this position at the same time. Not only had 
the left wing fallen behind the right, i)ut many individuals 
also, for various reasons, had foimd it impossible to maintain 
their places in the line and came up later. That there would 
be more or less disorder is self-evident. It was impossible for 
even line officers to see their men or do much in the wav of 
keeping them in place or directing their movements. Much 
of the time not more than a dozen or twentv men of the regi- 
ment ecu d be seen by anyone person. Anvthing like touch- 
ing elbows, or dressing on the colors, or dressing anywhere, 
was out of the question. 

Towards the last, a part of the regiment, embracing the color^ 
and those near them, fell into a wood road or track, along 
which they passed with greater ease. The two llanks, how- 
ever, were still very much hampered and delayed. For a time 
it was not understood bv all that a halt was to be made at the 
fence. A number of our men passed on into the held, but re- 
turned to the line at once when thev comprehended what the 
order was. 

This wheatheid was, as has been said, on the opposite 
slope of the hill from that up which we had come. Our posi- 
tion was immediately at its right hand corner with respect to 
our advance. At that point it was not much over one hun- 
dred yards wide, but rapidly increased in wiilth towards our 
left. Tiie wheat had been cut and stood in shocks, which 



l'(>4 IIISTOKV Ol- TIIK 

dotted tile field quite thicklv. Tlie>e are referred to as " wheat 
stacks '" in various reports. Aloiifj the side of the field oppo- 
site us there was timber, as aloufj the end also to our ri<^ht, — 
though this last had been cut or cleared sonietiinc anti hatl not 
grown very tall as yet. 

No sooner had the Twentv-seventh reached this field 
than a heavy fire was opened upon it by the rebels and we at 
once began to return as good as we were getting. Yet manv of 
oin- men diil not clearlv understand the situation ; neither did 
a part of the enemv. It must have been that, as we emerged 
from the timber so suddenly, they did not all quite know who 
we were. \\'e had started with the usual vociferous cheer- 
ing, but during the long, exhausting assent this was so nearlv 
suppressed that our arrival upon the scene was in part a sur- 
prise. I'pon no other theory can se\eral things be explained. 
Some of the members of the Twenty-jeventh. who. as before 
mentioned, pressed forward some distance into the wheat field, 
there exchanged commonplace greetings with members of a 
\'irginia rebel regiment and parted from them and returned 
to the ranks of their own regiment, without being challenged. 
The line of the enemv. which Colonel Colgrove mentions as 
being drawn across the field almost at right angles with our 
line on the left, would not have been there, or, being there, 
would not have remained as long as it did. if matters had 
been clear. We saw other bodies of the enemy also whose 
movements were very strange, except upon this theory. Hut. 
above all, in no other way can the fact be accounted for that 
we were not at once completely overwhelmed. There were 
enough of the enemy easily at hand to have accomplished 
this almost at a breath. 

The fire to which we were exposed from the start soon 
increased. One of the first vollevs seemed to mow down a 
dozen or more men of Companv I. wliicii, in the absence of 
Company C, was acting as color companv. All along the 
line men were falling fast. In addition to the fire which 
came from the fence and woods across the field, men were 
concealed behind the wheat shocks in the field and had a 
deadly range upon us. Colonel Colgrove meiitioiis in his 
report that the enemy'.s fiie at this juncture was particularly 
savage. The men of the regiment were also getting in gooil 
work. Almost every one of us had been accustomed to 



T \V K N r ■S' - S K \- 1-; N I 1 1 INDIA \ A . 



'20: 



haiullin^' lilles from childhood ;iiul we were iherc foi' a pur- 
pose. All that was needed was to show us an enemy. 

These conditions had continued for some minutes when a 
report gained wide circulation and credence in the regiment 
that there was some dreadful mistake, and that we were firing 
upon our own men. Such a fact may excite surprise at this 
date, but it was a somewhat common occurrence in the earlier 




Lieut, (j. ^V. Kkkd, Co. I. 
(Killed at Cedar Mountain). 

part of the wa>-. It is claimed by members of the Twenty- 
seventh, that the report here was first shouted across by the 
enemy on our left. It is not wholly improbable that this was 
true, and that those from wliom the statement came were sin- 
cere, believing that we belonged to their side. It was a time 
of confusion and misconception. Uniforms and (lags were 
not as clear distinguishing marks as might be supposed. 
Plastered with dust, both uniforms looked alike, and there 
were so many state flags and standards carried at this date, on 
both sides, that few liad yet learned to know one from the 
other. 

At about this stage of the battle, one of our otficers saw 



iMKj iii^ioRV oi I III-; 

for the first time tlie retrular Confederate t-tates flag — tlic 
"Stars and Bar,-;."" ll was carried hy a force wiiicli was 
passing from left to right across our front. lie had seen llie 
English tlag flving over vessels in New York harhor and 
mistook this to be one. So he hastened to the Colonel with 
the repoit that we were in danger of being flanked on the 
right, bv a cohnnn carrying the English flag. General Gordon 
being near, by Colgrove"s orders, the oflicer carried the re- 
port to him also. It seems that the Colonel likewise consulted 
(jordon about the alarm that we were firing and being fired 
upon bv our own men. (iordon was satislu'd that the men in 
our tVont were all our enemies, but to make sure rode for- 
ward to see. He was instantlv treated to a vollty that it was 
a miracle ditl not hit him. This, however, was at the right 
of the regiment and a limited number saw it. Farther 
to the left, firing had slackened among our men, and be- 
fore matters could be set right, ii retrograde movement be- 
gan. It was not precipitate, only a shrinking back into the 
timber to escape a tire whicli so many thought must not 
be returned. But once innnersed in tiie dense undergrowth, all 
possibilitv of control l)y any one was lest. Xo one could be 
seen or heard by above ten others at any one time. Nothing 
Avas possible therefore but to direct the movement back to 
some opening or cleared space, where the men could be made 
to understand the situation. Such a place was found about 
one hundred and fiftv or two bundled yards back, but to the 
left of our first line of advance. There the men were quickly 
and easilv rallied and reorganized. When definitely assured 
that there was no mistake about all at the wheat field being 
enemies except the three regiments of our brigade, the men 
were eager to return. The command *' Forward," was re- 
ceived with hearty and prolonged cheers. 

On this second advance the Colonel halted the regiment 
for a moment, just before coming under lire. Trust Colonel 
Colgrove alwavs to do the right thing in a battle, if left to 
himself. The line was thus re-adjusted, the men caught their 
breath and all steadied themselves for the ordeal. Again, at 
the edge of the wheat field, cool, resolute and effective, but 
with urgent haste the firing was resumed. The enemy had 
not summoned a larger force in the interval, but had evidently 
come to an understanding among themselves and were better 
prepared to receive us. Xo longer moving about, but care- 



'l\VHNTV-SK\"i:\III INDIANA. '201 

fully posted urouiui the tickl, .■-licl tercel 'Deliiiid the fences and 
bushes, thev returned our lire and our ranks were rapidly 
thinning for a second time, (iordon savs the time spent bv 
his brigade on the line at the wheat tleUl was at least thirty 
minutes. If this is not too low an estimate, it would not 
allow nu)re than lifteen minutes f(^r the Twenty-seventh at 
the field this second time. As half the total loss was inflicted 
now, its size indicates how rapid and accurate the enemy's 
t'ire was. 

But while the enemy was pouring upon us such a deluge 
of missies, he made little show of advancing. There was no 
reason for thinking that we could not hold our ground. Sud- 
denly, however, those on out extreme right discovered a for- 
midable force emerging from the underbrush squarely in that 
direction. We now know that this was the two full regiments 
of Pender's brigade, thrown around, undercover, expressly to 
strike Gordon's line in flank. Though this was a common trick 
with the enemy, no provision had been made to guard against 
it. Heroic Lieutenant \'an Arsdol. of Company A, was the 
first to sight this new foe. Promptly calling the attention of his 
own men and ordering them to turn their fire upon it, he 
hastened to apprise Colonel Colgrovc. The Colonel says in his 
report that when he arrived at the right of the line, the ad- 
vane of this flanking column was within twenty steps of his 
position. How astonishing that, instead of promptly ordering 
the regiment away, the fearless old fighter coolly directed his 
two right companies to change front and offer resistance. Com- 
pany A instantly moved in obedience to the oriler, but while 
Company D was in the act of doing so, the enemy had come 
up and blazed a withering volley into the faces of our men on 
the right. Following the volley thev charged literally into 
the midst of them and, at the point of the bayonet, demanded 
their surrender. The Colonel's horse was hit by the volley, 
a musket ball grazed the Colonel's scalp, carrying away a lock 
of his hair, while others ventilated his clothing in dift'erent 
places. A large number of the other officers and men also 
went down, many of them to rise no more. 

Resistance was not abandoned at once, but to \ ield 
ground against such an unequal attack, was unavoidable. 
While the right was thus being doubled back, men stood and 
>hot at their aggressors at less than two yards range. They 
lireil from behind trees until, with tierce oaths and impreca- 



•'( IS 



IIISTOHV OF THE 



tions, tlieir surrender was demanded and when fired at in re- 
turn, the powder burned their faces and singed their hair. It 
was reallv a hand-to-hand encounter that was carried on at 
this point. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison, who was at his po-t on the 
left, says Gordon, on being informed by him that the right 
had been turned, ordered him to withdraw the regiment by 
the left ilank. So the hopeless contest was abandoned. The 
line of retreat was aarain to tiie right of the line of advance 




Ei) ILvKr. Co. C. 



Capt. r>()x. C. 



I). 



The movement was deliberate and while it was impossible to 
preserve formations, the men kept together and at the fir>t 
opening the files were reformed. Here we were joined by the 
other two regiments of the brigade and marciied back to the 
hill from which we had set out. 

The regiments to the left of Gordons brigade had fared 
no better than his. Those which we had gone in to support 
had been defeated and driven back before our arrival. The 
lighting of our brigade therefore, closed the battle. W'iien 



TWENTY-SEVKNTII INDIANA. 209 

the brigade, or what was left of it, reached the Brown farm 
house it was fairly dark. The enemy eagerly pursued us into 
the woods, but, instead of finding us, lost themselves. In 
other words, they became so disorganized and confused that 
they veered from their course and eventually came out on the 
same side they had entered. 

Conditions in and around the Brown cottage were greatly 
changed from what they had been when we first arrived 
there. Most of the wounded able to walk, and those who 
had been helped back, were here and many of the dead had 
been carried here also. The house, yard and much of the 
surrounding space were thickly covered with these dead and 
wounded comrades. Our three noble regiments, which had 
come to this point so staunch and eager for the fray, were 
greatly reduced in numbers. All too many had made the ex- 
treme sacrifice of the patriot ; they had died for the flag. 
They had fallen as only brave men and heroes fall, with 
lofty courage and their faces to the foe. A still larger 
number had been wounded, many of them to linger for awhile, 
in acute suffering and then join their fellows in the Great 
Beyond. A large proportion of the badly wounded fell into 
the hands of the enemy. The list of prisoners not wounded 
was also quite large, though not especially large from the 
Twenty-seventh. 

Being relieved, after a little time, by fresh troops, we 
were ordered to take up a position farther to the rear. That 
position proved hard to find. Along the main road, on both 
sides, the enemy pressed his advantage and our forces, for 
one reason or another, yielded ground. Under orders, the 
Twenty-seventh moved from place to place, until late in the 
night. During this time there was a fierce artillery duel be- 
tween the batteries of the two armies. If all questions of 
danger could have been removed it would have been an in^ 
teresting sight. But, in addition to the usual exposure in 
such cases, the aim of a Union battery was misdirected for a 
time and the shells from it, as well as those from the enemy, 
fell among us. For once we needed someone to save us from 
our friends. We were eventually halted in a piece of timber, 
at the east side of the Culpeper road, something over a mile 
in rear of the battlefield. It was long past midnight when 
we reached this position. Needless is it to say that with 

those who remained, nature had about come to the extreme 
14 



\ 



210 HISTORY OF THE 

limit of its endurance. Though we had had no supper and 
next to no dinner, and were suflPering dreadfully for water, 
we dropped down in a heap among the leaves and were 
almost immediately lost in slumber. The battle was not 
renewed by either side. 

It seems again an unpleasant necessity to devote some 
brief space to our irrepressible brigadier. He has greatly 
improved since the battle of ^\"inchester and really does hand- 
somely now, considering the man. His official report of the 
battle of Cedar Mountain was written at the time and given 
to the newspapers, but did not reach the war department 
until many years later. Thougii manifestly addressed to the 
ears of the Massachusetts public it deals more justly and con- 
siderately with the Twenty-seventh than might have been 
expected. If there is anything objectionable in the report it 
is the following sentence : " As I approached the opening, 
the enemy, from his concealed position, received me with a 
rapid and destructive fire ; but my infantry, particularly the 
Second Massachusetts and Third Wisconsin, coolly took their 
assigned position and replied with commendable coolness." 
This reads fairly well, though it may have a sting concealed 
in it. In the light of the facts, however, nothing remains of 
it except its faulty rhetoric and its spirit, whatever that is. 

The facts are that the Second Massachusetts was not fired 
upon at all, and did not return any fire, for a considerable 
time after reaching the opening and that the Third Wisconsin 
did not reach the opening itself for a considerable time after 
the other two regiments. As to the Second, Gordon himself, 
in his book, "Brook Farm to Cedar Mountain," says, after 
relating the movement up to the wheat field, "As I rode up 
to the Second Massachusetts, I was amazed that no firing was 
going on. ****<■ Why don't you order your regiment 
to fire,' I shouted to Colonel Andrews of the Second. 'Don't 
see anything to fire at,' was the cool response." These are the 
exact facts as Gordon might have stated them in his official 
report. So much for the Second Massachusetts being 
*' received by a rapid and destructive fire " as it " approached 
the opening." 

As to the Third Wisconsin, we have seen that the rem- 
nants of six of its companies, having been in the tight along 
with another brigade, were just coming out of the woods as 
we of the Twenty-seventh were pushing in to them. The 



/ 



)l 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 211 

■writer has seen no definite statement as to how much time 
was consumed in rallyinfy these men and uniting tliem with 
the other companies, before a forward movement was possible. 
But the Twenty seventh having gone much of the distance at 
a doublecjuick, really " on the run," as Gordon says, it was 
impossible for the Third to reach the line of battle until later. 
It is clear, in fact, that Gordon knew nothing definite about 
the Third Wisconsin. In his report he says, " Colonel Ruger 
was rallying his men." In his book he says, " I rallied and 
gathered up the Third Wisconsin." In both report and book, 
he plainly states that the position of the Third in the line at 
the wheatfield was on the right of the Twenty-seventh Indi- 
ana, whe I it was really on the left of our regiment. Hence, 
when Gordon says that " Particularly the Second Massachu- 
setts and Third Wisconsin" "coolly took their places and 
replied with commendable coolness," under the destructive 
fire that greeted his brigade upon its arrival at the wheatfield, 
he takes the pains to specify one regiment that struck it where 
no enemy was in sight, and another that had not yet arrived 
there, if indeed he ever knew when it did arrive or where it 
was. Not much for Gordon to say ! Slight circumstances 
like these should not stand in his way when he wanted to pass 
a compliment. Not him ! 

Now, while one regiment was quietly standing on its 
arms, not seeing anything to shoot at, and the other was still 
behind, neither of them through any fault of its own, here is 
Avhat the other regiment had encountered "on approaching 
the opening." First from Colonel Colegrove's report : He 
says : "We had scarcely reached the opening before the ene- 
my opened a very heavy fire upon us. * * * The enemy 
seemed to be posted in great numbers in the woods in our 
front, across the field and within rifle range. They also had 
skirmishers thrown forward and screened behind the stacks of 
wheat in the field, on my right and nearly at a right angle 
with my line. The enemy also had a regiment drawn up in 
line of battle, the line extending nearly across the field, and 
facing toward my left. This regiment had a cross-fire upon 
me." 

Next, from Gordon himself. He does not disdain the 
truth when it suits his end. After giving the number of his 
brigade at fifteen hundred and estimating the enemy avail- 
able at this point at eight thousand, he says, again in " Brook 



212 HISTORY OF THE 

Farm to Cedar Mountain " : "It will be seen that the woods 
opposite must have been literally packed with rebels, and 
that they must have extended far beyond our right to have 
enabled even one-third of the men to get to the front. This was 
the situation as we, of all Banks' boys, when the light was 
growing dim on that fatal August night, opened fire on Arch- 
er's brigade, as his troops, disdaining cover, stood boldly out 
among the wheat stacks in front of the timber. As may be 
imagined, our position was an exposed one. It is almost in 
vain to attempt to convey an impression of the fierceness of 
that lire. As to Colonel Colgrove, commanding the Twenty- 
seventh Indiana, to the right of the Second Massachusetts, 
the enemy seemed to be all around him — in his front and on 
his right in a dense growth of underbrush, and on his left, in 
line extending nearly across the wheat field. From front and 
flank, direct and cross, came this terrible fire upon the 
Twenty-seventh Indiana." 

Thus the record of the Twenty-seventh at Cedar IMount- 
ain is made up. The surviving members have the proud 
consciousness of having tried to do their duty, and they are 
heartily willing to submit their conduct and movements, 
along with others on that ill-fated and unsavory field, not 
omitting those of Gordon himself, to the candid judgment of 
an unprejudicetl public. Especially are they willing to leave 
their case in the hands of all true soldiers, everywhere. Not 
enlisted men only, but intelligent soldiers of experience, of 
all ranks. All such who study it will find that this battle 
was largely a wild, frenzied, freakisli affair, as were others of 
this war, fought under leaders of no more military ability and 
experience than those in control here. It was foolishly pre- 
cipitated, through a stupid misconception of orders, if not in 
willful disregard of the same. Whether the one or the other, 
it was the result of jealousy and off"ended pride. In many of 
its details the battle resembled more the hasty, reckless, 
though daring, conduct of a mob, headed by ignorant, hair- 
brained fanatics, than the wisely conceived and regularly 
executed movements of an organized army. Gordon himself 
tells of a brigadier-general who, absent from his own com- 
mand, during the progress of the battle, rode up to troops 
belonging to another brigade and, waving his sword and 
shouting hysterically, said : " Charge, men ! Charge across 
the field!" Other officers of high rank, occupying positions 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 213 

of great responsibility, who should have been calm and 
resourceful, galloped furiously around among the soldiers, 
saying ridiculous things and giving orders, the import of 
which they had not considered in the least. 

Along with the rest, attention is directed to the conduct 
of this man Gordon himself. It was by his orders and under 
his supervision that the men of the Twenty-seventh were 
frantically and cruelly forced up that steep, rough, overgrown 
incline, a full half mile at a dead run, in such unusual, suffo- 
cating heat. Who that knows anything would not know that 
that was over-taxing their endurance, overheating their blood 
and preparing them for misunderstanding and confusion? 
Moreover this foolish, untimely rush was ordered without 
kno\ving himself, or giving the officers and men under him any 
chance to know, where the enemy would likely be encount- 
ered, or anything as to their numbers ; without any attempt 
at communication, or concert of action, between the different 
regiments of his command ; without waiting for one to come 
into line with the others, and not knowing to the day of his 
death when it came in, or where its position was, and per- 
mitting another to miss its destination and remain out of the 
fight until later. No skirmishers were sent in advance and, 
more fatal than all else, no precautions were taken to guard 
against an attack in flank, though Jackson had resorted to 
this trick in every battle before this. 

We remained in the vicinity of the battlefield of Cedar 
Mountain for three days, then (juietly marched back to our 
camp at Culpeper. In the afternoon of the day following the 
battle arrangements were made, under a fiag of truce, by 
which a detail went from each regiment to bury the dead. 
The enemy nominally held possession of the field, but really 
had withdrawn his army behind the Rapidan river. 

No exact data are at hand indicating where the dead of 

It has developed in recent years that Gordon was at this time guilty of what was 
not only a piece of mischief and treachery against the Twenty-seventh, but was really a 
henious crime against military law. In an interview witli our adjutant, who was our 
colonel's son, lie said in substance that Colonel ColKrove was to be i)itied. He did not 
have tlie riglit kind of material out of which to make a good regiment. His men were 
naturally insubordinate and cowardly. At this same juncture Gordon was condoling with 
other otlicers in the Twenty-seventh- and saying to them that all the trouble in tlie regi- 
ment was traceable to tlie colonel. If the regiment only had a different commander 
nothing would stand in the way of its reaching the top. In fact, he expressed something 
bordering clf)sely on to this last sentiment, to the Twenty-seventh publicly on at least one 
occasion. In other words, here was a brigade conimander sowing seed* of discord, and 
secretly stirring up sedition in one of his own regiments. 



214 HISTORY OF THE 

the Twenty-seventh were buried, or any of the attending cir- 
cumstances. It is only known that they were buried by men 
sent from the regiment for the purpose. All the companies 
being represented in the detail, it was usual for the men of a 
company to bury their own dead. This was always done 
as decently and with as much thoroughness of detail as the 
conditions would admit. Those killed at Cedar Mountain 
were probably interred finally in the small National Cemetery 
at Culpeper, though of this the writer has not been positively 
advised. 

Those of the burial party who went over the field report- 
ed that the timber in the vicinity of where the Twenty- 
seventh was engaged, was cut and scored by musket balls to 
an astonishing degree. Tiie palm of a man's hand was suf- 
ficient to cover seven bullet holes in one tree, and in many 
other places the eviden es of a desperate rain of lead and iron 
were equally conclusive. It will never cease to be a wonder 
how any one escapes under such circumstances. 

When the writer visited this field, more than twenty- 
seven years after the battle, buckles, scraps of tin, dried 
leather, etc., were still thickly strewn upon the ground along 
the edge of the field, where the line of the Twenty-seventh 
stood, tiie remains of knapsacks, and cartridge boxes dropped 
there b}^ the killed and wounded. 

Nothing of importance is recalled as connected with our 
further stay at Culpeper. Upon the withdrawal of the army. 
Dr. Woollen, of the Twenty-seventh, remained, as one of the 
two surgeons, in charge of the hospital, in which were left 
those too sick, or too badly wounded, to be moved. The Doctor 
largely volunteered to do this, because some one had to do it, 
and he wanted to do his whole duty. But he had not dreamed 
of the seriousness of the undertaking. For a time it seemed 
that he, and all of those with him, miglit lose their lives at the 
hands of a mob ; while excessive labor, manifold perplexities 
and personal indignities were his daily fare. Incredible as 
it may appear, when the Union army had gone, the citizens of 
Culpeper could scarcely be restrained from wreaking bloody 
vengeance upon the helpless sick and wounded in the hos- 
pital, and upon those who, at great personal sacrifice, were 
caring for them. When the rebel army came in it put a stop 
to threatened mob violence, but it did that which rendered the 
Doctor's situation almost as unenviable. The hospital was 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 



215 



■ Stripped almost bare of medicines and other iiospital supplies, 
and the nurses and other attendants were led away as prisoners. 
At one time there were seven dead bodies in the hospital with 
no means of givin<2^ them decent burial. 

Dr. Woollen was eventually sent to Libbv Prison himself. 
Among many other outrages that he experienced there, he 
was at one time forced to prescribe professionally for a female 
victim of the notorious Capt. \\'ir/.. then on dutv at Libby, 
the details of which are unlit for a book designed for general 
circulation. 

Debased, brutish men may be found in any army, though 
it is not as common to tind them there as some good people 
suppose. The undeniable fact that Wirz — foul, inhuman, 
hellish wretch that he was — was not only in close touch, but 
in extraordinary personal favor, with the highest authorities in 
the rebel civil government, is a fact that raises perplexing 
questions. 




ANK " AND " Johnny " Ex- 
changing Coffee for 
" Terbackek." 







CHAPTER XVII. 



SECOND BULL RUN. 

This chapter is so named, because it relates to the cam- 
paign connected with the Second Battle of Bull Run, rather 
than to the battle itself. As it proved, Banks' corps, in which 
the Twenty-seventh was servin<r, was not called upon to take 
an active part in that engagement. 

The Thinl brigade left Culpeper at dark, August 18th, 
taking the road north, and marched slowly all night, crossing 
the Rappahannock river at the railroad bridge about nine 
o'clock next morning. Few comments were heard upon 
the fact that we were marching away from the enemy instead 
of toward him. After a brief rest, the Twenty-seventh con- 
tinued on up the railroad alone, beyond Bealton, as guard for 
the wagon-train. The dust was again very bad, and we also 
suffered much for water. 

The Twenty-seventh remained in bivouac north of Beal- 
ton over night and until noon the next day, while the neglected 
pay rolls were being completed. It then started back to re- 
join the brigade along the Rappahannock. This we found no 
easy task. In our absence the brigade had moved further up 
the river, and, to the drudgery of marching in such weather, 
was added the difficulty of finding where we wanted to go. 
After wandering around interminably, running down one 
erroneous report after another, we at length came up with 
our friends about midnight. 

As it turned out, we were now entering upon a period 
memorable for its exposure, deprivations and trying service. 
Under orders from Washington, Gen. Pope was making 
strenuous eflorts to hold the line of the Rappahannock, until 
the troops lately under McClellan, on the Peninsula, could 
come to his assistance. This was at a stage in the war, too, 
when many prominent people throughout the country really 
believed that the lack of success on our side had been wholly 
due to the fact that our self-sacriticing soldiers had been 
allowed to take life too easy. It was unblushingly affirmed 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 217 

in in;iny quarters that this was the sum-total of the trouble. 
The insane theory was, therefore, to have an actual trial, that 
by mere physical exertion and endurance on the part of the 
army, regardless of how they might be directed, victories could 
be won. There was to be not only a disregard of all the ordi- 
nary creature comforts, but an almost total abandonment of 
such etfieminate and liome -guard habits as eating and sleep- 
ing. ^V reckless contempt was to be shown for such casual 
incidents as night and day, wind and weather. We were 
kept on short rations day after day, and at times almost lit- 
erally starved, when thousands of supplies were conveniently 
at hand, and had to be burned up before our eyes to keep them 
from falling into the hands of the enemy. We were awak- 
ened, time and again, at unholy hours of the night, and 
required to make tedious, dilly-dally marches, that could 
just as well have been made at seasonable times. What 
broken snatches of sleep we were permitted to have were, as 
often as not, out under the open sky, upon the bare, soggy 
earth, rained upon like range cattle, when we might have 
quickly sheltered ourselves, if orders had permitted it. Some 
of these things were, of course, the result of the disordered 
condition of the army and the incompetence and neglect of 
individual men in oflicial stations, but much of it was in 
response to the popular clamor before mentioned. Numer- 
ous vain - glorious dispatches were, meantime, published 
throughout the North, and the papers flamed with head- 
lines, all of the import that something might be expected 
now, for the army was, for once, exerting itself. 

It would be useless, if not impossible, to attempt to trace 
upon the map our almost continuous marches and counter- 
marches during these toilsome, hapless and disastrous days. 
No one march was very long, and no two were in the same 
direction. We gradually worked cur way up the Rappahan- 
nock as far as Sulphur Springs. Every day we were exposed 
to artillery fire. Twnce we were shelled with great vigor. 
Once a rebel battery threw slugs of railroad iron over among us. 

For a time the weather was very hot, the dust horrible 
and water scarce. Then there were continuous, drenching 
rains, and mud without stint. Several nights the thunder was 
terrific, the lightning blazed in our faces, and the rain de- 
cended in torrents. During most of the rains we shivered 
with cold. The country was largely wooded, and, passing 



218 HISTORY OF THE 

through it in the dark, over poorly-improved roads, marcliing 
was unusually slavisii. For five days at a stretch we drew na 
pork, or meat ration of any kind, and other supplies were at 
the minimum. Men were known to refuse as high as a dollar 
for a single cracker. Twenty-five cents for a cracker was con- 
sidered dirt cheap, especially if the seller would wait until 
pay-day for his money. 

In the night of the 22d of August the enemy's cavalry struck 
our line of communications near Manassas, directly in our rear, 
tearing up the railroad track, burning bridges, capturing and 
destroying supplies, etc. This was not the real cause of our 
short rations, however. We shall see presently that an abund- 
ance had already been accumulated beyond where the railroad 
was interrupted. The enemy's infantr}- followed immediately 
upon the heels of his cavalry, and it soon became known to us 
that a large part of the rebel army was directly between us and 
Washington. 

This was the first instance, on a large scale, of such tactics 
in the Civil war. Stonewall Jackson led the movement, as he 
did other similar ones, later. Such moves are often referred 
to, therefore, as "Jackson tactics." It was reserved for Sher- 
man, Sheridan and others, later in the war, not only to meet 
such strategems successfully, but to make similar ones from 
our side. We had seen Jackson's long columns passing up 
the river to our right a few days previously, without any one 
surmising the end aimed at. It was explained now. The 
points of interest to us were exactly reversed. Every day 
after this, from morning till night, we could hear the sullen 
boom of artillery, off north of us, instead of south, where it 
had been before. 

The feasibility of capturing, or at least crippling Jack- 
son's army, which, to the day of his death. Gen. Pope 
always insisted upon, was at once communicated to the 
army. It was intimated, in fact, that Jackson had been pur- 
posely enticed into making such a move, for the definite pur- 
pose of punishing him. In other words, it was asserted that 
Jackson was at last " trapped." Later on, down in Georgia, 
when we found the other side deceiving their people with 
similar stories about Sherman, claiming that they were only 
"trapping" him, we greatly enjoyed it. We were glad to 
have some of that kind of " trapping " come our way. 

Of course, all the world knows now that Gen. Pope had 



TWENTV-SEVKNTH INDIANA. 219 

nor invited nor expected any thing of the kind. Hut it does 
seem reasonable at this date, as it did then, that, with anything 
like promptness and concert of action, our army might strike 
the enemy a telling blow before he could unite his forces, or 
escape. 

Yet our corps did not leave the line of the Rappahannock 
for four days after this, namely, the 2Gth of August, and that 
day, as we marched slowly back in the direction of Warrenton? 
we saw large numbers of both Siegel's and McDowell's corps', 
showing that they had not moved previous to that either. On 
the 27th and throughout the forenoon of the 28th, we made 
little or no headway towards getting anywhere, or striking a 
blow at anybody. We were under arms during both days and, 
most of the lime, were marching slowly along, but there 
seemed to be indecision or confusion as to where we were 
wanted. At different times we marched past other troops, then, 
while we were delayed, they marched past us. On this last 
morning, the 28th, two companies of the Twenty-seventh were 
subjected to the hard duty of marching to Bealton station and 
back, eleven or twelve miles in all, carrying their knapsacks 
and full equipments, as guard for an ordinance train. They had 
barely returned, well fagged out, when the whole corps picked 
itself up and marched to Bealton, over the same road, going 
also some distance beyond. 

A few days before this we had suffered from excessive and 
continous rains. Much of the time we were wet to the skin, 
our feet were almost always wet and sleeping habitually on 
wet ground, with wet blankets, we chilled with cold and were 
bedraggled with mud. To-day our course lay through a water- 
less country, the sun seemed bent upon burning us up, and the 
dust was as bad as ever. We finally stopped, late at night, 
and threw ourselves upon the ground, without regard to order, 
too tired to prosecute a tedious search for water, though our 
tongues were swollen from thirst. 

On the 29th, we moved on, past Warrenton Junction and 
Catletts Station, to Kettle Run. Here the first pork and cof- 
fee were issued that we had received for a week. The bridge 
over Kettle Run had been destroyed by the enemy, cutting off 
an immense quantity of army supplies of all kinds. The sup- 
plies had been at a point further down the road when the bridge 
was destroyed, but had been brought back this far. in the hope 
that, if the bridge coukl be rebuilt, they migiit be taken 



220 HISTORY OF THE 

further. Banks' entire corps was kept out of the battle, which 
was raging to-day, in our hearing, and which was continued 
the day following, as a guard for these supplies. Valuable as 
they were, it was the general conviction among us that the 
twelve thousand men of Banks' corps should go into the fight, 
at the ris s of losing the supplies. As it was, the battle was 
lost and the supplies also. 

Chaplain Quint was urged afterwards to write, for publi- 
cation, what he himself had seen during these days on the 
Rappahannock. Among other things he wrote, " I saw there 
on the Rappahannock soldiers faint with hunger; considering 
whether to eat a buscuit or save it until morning; glad to 
receive the remnants of meat which some others had to spare ; 
roasting green corn, not a luxury, but to satisfy hunger.* * * * 
I saw on eventful and disasterous days, a whole corps lying 
idle, within sound of the battle. I saw millions of dollars 
■worth of property destroyed." 

It was on the morning of the 81st that this destruction of 
property occurred. The battle had fatuitously gone against 
the loyal army, for the second time, in the uncanny region of 
Bull Run. Tenfold more extensive and bloody than the first, 
which is odiously famous, the Second Battle of Bull Run is 
little known and scantily appreciated, except by those who 
were in it, or near by when it was fought. It was such a 
hotch-potch of blunders and cross-purposes on our side; envy, 
hatred and personal prejudices among our leaders — not to say 
positive insubordination and disloyalty — had so much to do 
with its issue, that few have had the hardihood to give it studied 
iittention. Yet hundreds of brave men died there as only 
heroes can die, and the full measure of splendid courage and 
discipline was again exliibited in vain by many. 

Orders came to our corps on the morning of the 81st to 
start huriedl}-. The facts, communicated along with the 
orders, revealed the urgency of the situation. Direct connec- 
tion between us and the army had already been interrupted. 
The only way we could reach the army was by a circuitous 
route, involving the fording of streams, which w^ere rapidly 
rising. We started about eight o'clock in the morning, and, 
as the column straightened itself on the road, it was generally 
understood that the chances were about even whether we were 
to fight or swim for liberty. It had poured rain in the night, 
but was only raining gently now. 



TWENTY-SEVKNTH INDIANA. 221 

No one of Banks' corps, present tlnit mornin<^, has probobly 
ever looked upon another such slight as he beheld at that time. 
As the line of troops inarched up the railroad, crossed it, and 
struck otY eastward, railroad cars, which in a line would reach 
a mile, were wrapped in flames. Worse than all, these cars 
were mostly loaded with choice bacon, sugar, coffee, crackers 
and clothing. A few were loaded with ammunition. With 
the cars were several locomotives. These could not be 
greatly injured by fire in the time allowed, and the rebels 
afterward moved them South and repaired them, restoring 
the bridge across the Rappahannock for the purpose. The 
fire reached the cars loaded with ammunition after we had 
passed on a short distance, and one explosion in particular was 
terrific. The order to burn property had included all wagons 
and baggage. This part of the order Gen. Banks wisely de- 
cided not to execute unless a more pressing emergency should 
develop, which happily did not. We marched at a straining 
pace for five consecutive hours, without a halt. There was 
no interruption, very little was said, and no sign of undue 
haste was visible. Making a wide detour, around through 
Brentsville, and fording the Ocoquan and other smaller 
streams, we returned to the railroad at Manassas. Passing its 
blackened ruins we pushed on to Bull Run. 

The three miles between these two points, Bull Run and 
Manassas, was the fortunate space that had intervened between 
our regimental, brigade and division wagon trains and Stone- 
wall Jackson, and saved them from his clutches a few nights 
before this, when, without warning, he swooped into Manas- 
sas, burning everything he could not remove. These trains 
were quietly parked that night on the south bank of Bull 
Run, wholly without protection and unmindful of danger. 
jSIost of those in charge were asleep. The few who were 
awake could hear very distinctly every pistol shot at ^Manassas, 
and could plainly see the light from the burning buildings, 
yet not dreaming of the enemy being in the rear of our army, 
were bewildered as to the cause, and scarcely had a suspicion 
of it. At the first hint of the real state of the case, however, 
no one need think that any time was lost in hooking up and 
moving briskly off towards Alexandria. 

The Twenty-seventh was detained several hours near the 
crossing of Bull Run to guard a field hospital, containing 
wounded from the recent battle. It is misleadincf to call it a 



222 HISTORY OF THE 

hospital, however. It was nothing' more than a shady phice, 
where several hundred badly wounded men were lying upon 
the ground, almost destitute of everything, including nursing 
and friendly sympathy. 

Pittiable sufferers, they occupied acres of ground, with 
nothing over them except the shade of the trees, and nothing 
under them except a few evergreen boughs. In their soiled, 
blood-stained clothing, if there was as much as one well per- 
son about to give them a drink of water, before we arrived, we 
did not see him. It was reported that the only surgeon who 
had been in attendance had gone away, shortly before our 
arrival, in search of ambulances to remove them. After awhile 
an endless train of ambulances arrived, and one by orje, they 
were loaded in. When the last groaning, bleeding victim had 
been carted away, the Twenty-seventh moved on towards 
Centerville. 

While the battle of Chantilly was b ing fought our 
division formed a reserve line, not far in rear of those engaged. 
Strangers to him personally as w^e all were, we deeply 
regretted Gen, Phil. Kearney's untimely death, in this battle. 
The severest part of the battle was fought during a hard 
down-pour of rain. 

It was now clear to all that our army had, for the time, 
lost the power of effectual resistance. It was not seized with 
panic, as was the case at the First Battle of Bull Run ; neither 
was it broken up and demoralized. It was only scattered and 
disorganized and not able to act unitedly. No successful stand 
could be made on this side of the Potomac outside of the 
defences of Washington. 

After many inexplicable delays and counter-marches, 
turning first to one side, then to the other, of the road, often 
going back, always making head-way slowly, hungry, foot- 
sore, ragged, unwashed and tired beyond words to express, 
we finally dropped down, as it were, in the middle of the 
night, following Sept. 2nd, under the guns of the forts near 
Alexandria. 

The next day. Sept, 3d, we moved up opposite Washing- 
ton, bivouacking near Fort Richardson. On Sept. 4th Banks' 
corps recrossed the Potomac into Georgetown on the acque- 
duct, which, having the water drawn out, served as a bridge. 
For a second time, baffled and discomfitted piece-meal, we had 
been forced, through no fault of ours, to turn our backs upon 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 



223 



those no braver or better soldiers than ourselves. The 
Twenty-seventh never saw Gen. Banks again. On account of 
impaired health, it was said, he was relieved of the command 
of the corps and given charge, temporarily, of the troops left 
to protect Washington. We had served under him almost a 
year. Whatever else he was or was not, we found him to be 
a courteous and humane gentleman. 



— V-^ 







Got any Pies to Sell, Aunty ? 







A Picket Reserve. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



CAMPAIGNING IN MARYLAND. 

As it is in civil life, so it was in the army — present duty 
demanded attention, rather than past losses and disappoint- 
ments. Often this very necessity was most helpful, and 
enabled men to endure what otherwise would have been kill- 
ing. If the soldiers who served in the Army of the Potomac 
can claim special credit for anything, it is not so much for the 
sore privations they suffered, or the unequalled blood they 
shed, as for the supreme test which tlieir uncalled-for, dis- 
heartening reverses imposed upon their love of country and 
their faith in its ultimate deliverance. If this arm}- was out- 
maneuvered, taken at a helpless disadvantage and pounded 
mercilessly yesterday ; resolutely and hopefully, if not smil- 
ingly, it squared itself for the encounter today. From this 
standpoint it was a good thing that it had an active, energetic 
enemy. Both after Second Pull Run and Chancellorsville, it 
would have been a calamity for the Union army to have 
remained inactive. When the rebel commander gave it some- 
thing to do, worthy of itself, he was helping it over a very 
hard place. 

No sooner were we across the Potomac then the air was 
heavily charged with rumors of a bold, formidable, aggressive 
movement on the part of the rebels. At once, as if by 
magic, a wonderful change came over our army. Every one 
who was the least discouraged or doubtful before, was now 
buoyant and full of confidence. This change, which was appar- 
ent to all, has been ascribed by some to the fact that Gen. 
McCIellan was restored to command. If this applied to other 
corps it did not apply to ours to a very great degree. It was 
an inspiration at any time to have a leader of recognized, 
ability, but we had not been serving directly under McCIellan 
and did not share the belief largely that he was the only 
general who could lead the army to victory. 

The forenoon of the 5th was spent in mustering for pay, 
a duty overdue since the 1st. In the afternoon we marched 



rWEN'IV-SKVEN 111 INDIANA. L_0 

a mile bevoncl KockvilU-, o\cr the s;iine road we had ^onc a 
vear before when, tor the lirst time, we trietl carrying knap- 
sacks and full equipments. The Twenty-seventh had not 
quite put down the rebellion in the interval, as most of us had 
then secretly imaij^ined we easily could do, but it had been a 
vear into which a good deal had been crowded, after all. 

Ivirly on the morning of the Oth our division formed in 
regular line of battle, in front of where we had bivouacked over 
night, and mo\ed tbrward in that order quite a distance, as if 
advancing to an attack. Why this was done is still a con- 
nuiulrum. If it was believed by those in command that an 
enemy of any size was near, it was a palpable error. It may 
have been only an act of caution in a time of uncertaintv. 
and in the midst of a multitude of indefinable rmnors. 

During these days that we spent nortti of Washington 
at tills time, several things transpired which have an interest 
in this narrative. The most prominent of these was the organ- 
ization of the troops lately under Gen. Banks, with some new 
regiments and others that had been serving elsewhere, into the 
Twelfth Army Corps, and regularly incorporating it into the 
Armv of the Potomac. W^e had been a part of that army dur- 
ing the fall and winter previous, but, in the spring, had been 
detached from it. We were now definitely reassigned to it 
again. No one of us will ever cease to rejoice that this was 
done. While without this we might justly have claimed rela- 
tionship to it and thus inherited a share of its imperishable re- 
nown, by this transaction such a course was rendered unnec- 
essary. Henceforth we were acknowledged members of the 
blood royal. Maj.-Gen. J, K. Mansfield was at the same 
time placed in command of the Twelfth Corps. As it proved, 
he was to furnish one of the most glowing pages in its historv. 
lie was mortallv woundetl wiiile moving the corps into bat- 
tle only a few days subsecjuent to its organization. 

Two new regiments, the Thirteenth New Jersey and the 
< Mir Hundred anil Seventh New \'ork, were also assigned to 
our brigade at this time, and remained in it until the end of 
the war. Their appearance when they first came to us was 
in striking contrast to that of the older legiinents. There 
s-eeined to be a countless number of them. We had not real- 
ized before how lirge a regiment really w'as. Their new uni- 
lorms, their enormous knapsacks, and their seeming excess of 

equipments of all kinds, attracting mori- allention bv their 
15 



2-2Q 



niSTOHN OI-- THE 



inexperienced way of buntllin*^^ them up and caring for thcin. 
we shall not soon forget. No less in contrast with ours were 
their bleached faces and soft, white hands. Would such 
dainty, etVeniiiiate fellows ever make soldiers.' If they were 
guyed and tormented about these matters b}' the older soldier.s 
it was not out of the common. But it was only the few who 
did such things. Most good soldiers are thoughtful enough 
to recall the facts about themselvesat an earlier date. Almost 
needless is it to say, tliat these were both splendid regiments, 
and that their names will often be mentioned hereafter, never 
otherwise than in praise. 





Ord. .SKiu.r. Da\ ID 1",\ KuiiAur, 
Company E. 



Capt. John \V. Tii< 'itsM i; 
Company B. 



The Twenty-seventh itself received a considerable squad 
of recruits at this time. It is not possible to give the number, 
much less the names, of tiiose who then joined us. but this wa- 
the largest number of recruits that came to us at any one time. 
The Twenty-seventh received less than one hundred recruits 
from first to last. The service of the regiment was too arduou- 



T\\" KN TV -SI-;\- i:\lH INDIANA. '22 i 

to attract cnlistincnts laitrely. Whatever the reason w a>. it is 
a fact tliat conimaiuls doinfi; garrison duty, or that did not 
seem likely to be called upon to shed much blood, got the most 
recruits from voluntary enlistments. .Ml the more credit was 
it. therefore, to a person who volunteered to go to a regiment 
where he would plunge at once into active field service and 
was likely to stand before the enemy's muskets inside of a 
week, as these recruits really did. As might be expected, 
such men were made of the right kind of stiifl". The writer 
has no knowledge, personal or otiierwise, of anv recruit to the 
Twenty-seventh, coming at this or any other lime, who did 
not prove himself a good soldier. Several of these recruits 
were killed at Antietam. less than two weeks after reaching us. 
For some reason Gen. Mansfield did not come to the corps 
for several days after his appointment, and " Pap'" Williams 
was in command. In the Official Records of the Rebellion is 
what he called "The Itinerary of the Twelfth Corps,'" record- 
ing its movements for a few daws. In this he says we "• Lay 
upon the field on the 7th.'" Of course we did! The onlv dif- 
ference between our lying on the tield that clay, howe\ er. and 
any other was one of location merely. We had been King 
on one field or another for nearly a month. 

On the *,)th we moved to Midtljebrook, northward; on the 
10th, to Damascus, and, remaining in camp there one day, 
moved, on the 12th, to Ijamsville. This village is on the 
main line of the Baltimore iC Ohio railroad, eight or ten miles 
east of Frederick. Our route this time carried us east of ()Id 
Sugar Loaf mountain, though it was in sight for a dav or 
more. The summit was occupied bv a signal station. The 
road we traveled this time was not as rocky as the one we 
had traveled the previous fall. 

On the VM\\ we moved bv the direct road to Frederick. 
This took us immediately past Mr. Clay's house, in whose 
orchard we had camped the previous December. Looking 
northward, we could plainly see our deserted cabins of the 
previous winter ; in fact, some of our boys on the skirmi.-h 
line jjassed among them. 

The bulk of Lee's army had been at Frederick up to a 
very recent period. We were liable at any time to encounter 
rebel scouts or outposts. As the Twentv-seventh led the 
column, expecting any moment to sight an enemy, thougli 
passing over this ground, where we had formerly fell so 



2l\S IIISTOKY Ol TIIK 

secure, and which, indeed, almost seenu-d like home to ii>. the 
sudden and violent changes wliicli the fortunes of war mav 
bring about were forcibly impressed upon us. 

There being no bridge over the Monoccacy, on this road, 
we forded that stream. The water was only knee-deep, aiul 
warm, so it was no hardship, except to our already badly- worn 
shoes and tattered pants. Some of our officers had put on 
their best boots and pants when we came up with our wagons 
iit Washington. To plunge into the water in the river, and 
then into the dust, shoe-mouth deep, on the other side, caused 
them to make wry faces, but thev did not tlinch. 

When we emerged from tiie timber east of the Monoccacy, 
we saw smoke rising from several pieces of artillery, engaged 
in the open country west of l-'rederick. it wa> now clear that 
no enemy would be encountered short of that point. But, 
with skirmishers still ileployed in our front, we moved on and 
finallv halted in a clover lield, adjoining the city on the south. 

Tiie weather was very beautiful. As we lay down upon 
the clean grass, we did so with a sense of relaxation and enjoy- 
ment that soldiers do not always have when taking a short 
rest. Still, something of very great importance was about to 
transpire. This was nothing less than the iinding, by a mem- 
ber of the Twenty-seventh, of the now famous and historic 
Lost Dispatch, or Order Xo. ]{)]. 

At least one prominent authority on the Confederate side 
that has come to the attention of the writer cites the unac- 
countable loss of this paper and its prompt finding and delivery 
to Gen. McClellan, as one of the mvsterious developments in 
the overthrow of their cause, in which Providence seemed 
clearlv to take sides against them. It is an instance, rather, 
showing how fatal a small mishap on one side in war may 
prove to be if taken intelligent and spiedy advantage of by 
the other side. The advantage which accrued to our side, as 
it was. through the finding of this document, was immeasur- 
able. Gen. McClellan says; " Whoever found the order, and 
transmitted it to headcjuarters, rendered an infinite service."' 
If the service was anything less than infinite it was only be- 
cause a proportionate intelligence and energy were not exer- 
cised in taking full advantage of the information contained in 
the order that was exercised in recognizing its importance 
and placing it in the hands of the commanding general. What 
more could a general a>k than to have the plans of his antago- 



TWKNIV M-;\'E\ril INDIANA. 220 

nist for the next se\eriil days fully and clearly made known to 
him, more especially when the plans revealed the fact that the 
arm}' of his antagonist was divided and widely scattered? 

The writer has nowhere, in any book, magazine, or news- 
paper, seen the statement that this dispatch was found by a 
soldier or soldiers of the Twenty-seventh Indiana, except where 
the statement was made by a member of the regiment itself. 
Writers content themselves with saving that it was found '"by 
a member of an Indiana regiment."' In most cases they 
simplv say '' by a soldier." Is this an example of the partial- 
itv of the world for position and titles? Does this illustrate 
how easily a name once illumined with real or fancied bright- 
ness attracts to itself additional lustre? If this Lost Dispatch 
had been picked up and its importance recognized by some- 
one already well known, it is not difficult to imagine what 
explicit and effusive praise, if not increased honor and emolu- 
ments, would have been heaped upon him. 

The facts relating to the finding of the Lost Dispatch, as 
well as some of the stupendous results which followed, are 
probably set forth as clearly and accurately in Gen. Colgrove's 
communication to the Centurv Magazine,* as will ever be 
possible, under the circumstances. That communication, en- 
tire, is as follows : 

" In re[)ly to your reciuesl for the particulars of the finding of Oeneral 
Lee's lost dispatch, Special Orders 191, and the manner in which it 
reached General McClelian, I beg to submit the followmg account : 

"The Twelfth Army Corps arrived at Frederick, Maryland, about 
noon on the 13th of September, 18(:)2. The Twenty-seventh Indiana \'ol- 
unteers, of which I was colonel at that date, belonged to the Third 
Brigade, First Division, of that corps. 

" We stacked arms on the same ground that had been occujiied by 
General D. H. Hill's corps the evening before. 

" Within a very few minutes after halting, the order was brought to 
me by First Sergeant John M. Bloss, and Private B. W. Mitchell, of Com- 
panv F, Twenty-seventh Indiana A'olunteers, who stated that it was found 
by Private Mitchell near where they had stacked arms. When I received 
the order it was wrapped around three cigars, and Private Mitchell 
stated that it was in that condition when found by him. 

"General A. S. Williams was in command of our division. 1 imme- 
diately took the order to his hea(U|uarters, and delivered it to Colonel S. 
E. Pitman, General Williams's .\djutant-General. 

"The order was signed by Colonel Chilton, General Lee's Adjutant- 
General, and the signature was at once recognized by Colonel Pitman, 

* Century MtiKa/.ine. \ol. :;;«. p. l.U. 



:230 I^sTOI{^ ok the 

who had servfd with Colonel Chilton at Detroit, Michigan, prior to the 
war, and was acquainted with his handwriting. It was at once taken to 
General McClellan's headquarters by Colonel Pitman. It was a general 
order giving directions for the movement of General Lee's entire army, 
designating the route and olijective [loint of each corps. Within one 
hour after finding the dispatch. General McClellan's whole army was on 
the move, and the enemy were overtaken the next day, the 14th, at South 
Mountain, and the battle of that name was fought. /^)uring the night of 
the 14tli General Lee's army fell back toward the Potomac River, General 
McClellan following the next day. On the HUh they were overtaken 
again, and the battle of Antietam was fought, mainly on the 17th. Gen- 
eral I). H. Flill says in his article in the May Century, that the battle of 
.South Mountain was fought in order to give General Lee time to move 
his trains, which were then parked in the neighborhood of Boonsboro'. 
It is evident from General Lee's movements from the time he left P" red- 
rick City that he intended to recross the Potomac without hazarding a 
liattle in Maryland, and, had it not been for the finding of this lost order, 
the battle of South Mountain, and probalily that of .Antietam, would not 
have been fought. 

" For confirmation of the above statement in regard to the finding of 
the dispatch, you are respectfully referred to Colonel Samuel E. Pitman, 
of Detroit, Michigan, and Captain John M. Bloss, of Muncie, Indiana. 

" \'ery respectfully, 

" S. COLGROVE. 

'■ Washington, D. C, June '2, 1S?<6." 

In connection with the foregoing comminiication. in 
the Century Magazine, is the following, under the head of 
•' Xote :"■ 

" ^h•. W. A. Mitchell, son of Private Mitchell, who, as General Silas 
Colgrove describes above, was the finder of Lee's order, writes that his 
father was severely wounded at .Antietam. After eight months in hospital 
lie completed his term of enlistment, three years, and three years after 
his discharge, died at his home in Bartholomew county, Indiana. As his 
family were then tlestitute, efforts were made to procure a pension for 
the widow, but without success. The following letter from General Mc- 
Clellan to the son is of interest : 

"Trknto.n", New Jersey, November IS, 1879. 
" W. A. Mitchell, Esq., La Cygne, Kansas : 

" Dear Sir : Your letter of the 9th inst. has reached me. I cannot, 
at this interval of time, recall the finder of the papers to which you refer — 
it is doubtful whether I ever knew his name. All that I can say is that 
on or about the 13th of September, 1862, — just before the battles of South 
Mountain and .Antietam— there was handed to me by a member of my 
staff a copy (original) of one of General Lee's orders of march, directed 
to General D. H. Hill, which order developed General Lee's intended 
operations for the next few days, and was of very great service to me in 



TWEXTV-SEVENTil IXDIANA. 231 

t^nabling me to direct the movements of my own trooits accordini,^Iv. 
This onier was stated to have been found on one of the abantloned camp- 
LTrounds of the Confederate troops by a private soldier of, as I think, an 
Inih'ana retifiment. Whoever foimd the order in question and transmitted 
it to the headquarters, showed inteiUgence and deserved a marked re- 
ward, for he rendered an infinite service. The widow of that soldier 
should have her pension without a day's delay. Regretting that it is not 
in my power to give the name of the tinder of the order, I am, 
" \'ery truly yours, 

"G[;(). H. McClki.lan." 

Two other versions of the circumstances attending the find- 
incr of this paper have come to the knowledge of the writer. 
In })otli. the credit of discovering the valtie of the paper, if not 
the paper itself, is largely accorded to other persons. These 
versions also differ from each other, even more than they differ 
from the version given by Cjen. Colgrove. The writer has not 
thought best to undertake to reconcile these different versions, 
or to decide between them. The one given by Gen. Colgrove is 
untjuestionably the one most cm rent in the regiment at the time, 
if indeed any other one was then made public at all. The 
writer, after dilligent inquiry', has failed to find any one among 
the survivors of the Twenty-seventh, not interested, in son^e 
way, in one of the other versions, who remembers to have 
heard of either of them, until within a recent period. It 
would almost seem that they are thus debarred by the statute 
of limitations. 

On the other hand, a letter addressed bv the writer to Mr. 
W. A, Mitchell, mentioned in the note quoted above, from the 
Century Magazine, requesting of him a brief summa-y of the 
evidence supporting his father's claim, or anv statement he 
mi'^ht choose to make in the premises, was iKjt accorded the 
courtesy of a reply of any kind. The only claim, therefore, 
that is positively asserted here is, that the important document 
in fjuestion was found by some member or members of the 
Twenty-seventh, and that, whoever it was, the quick discern- 
ment and loyal interest were not wanting, to recognize its 
^"alue and to see that it was placed in proper hands without 
dehi}-. It is claimed, furthermore, that this is only a fair illus- 
tration of the intelligent, patriotic service rendered bv the men 
of the regiment. 

Gen. Colgrove states that, within one hour after the dis- 
patch was sent to Gen. McClellan. the army was in motion. 
This was true of tliose troops that were to lead the adxance. 



ni>r()K\ OK THE 



The Twentv-seventh illil not start so promptly. After sturt- 
\n^. pro<;ress was slow. Without any known reason. on!v 
that those immediately ahead of us did so, we moved very lei-- 
urelv at best, and spent considerable time at a Iialt. 




Cait. John M. Bj.dos Co. F. 

E.\-Sui)t. Pulilic Instruction of Indiana; Ex- President State A.^ri- 
cultural College of Oregon. Recent Portrait. 

Almost from the first, there was heavy cannonading ahead 
of us. The countrv west of Frederick is open, except where 
mountain ranges intercept the view. As far as we could .»ee, 
long lines of men were in sight, all moving slowly forward o 
at a standstill. After we had passed the Catoctin range o 
mountains clouds of smoke, ascending from many elevation? 
showed us where batteries, either Cnion or Confederate, were 
in action. The sound of the guii> was also borne to our car- 
at times with i^reat di>tinctness. The Twent v-f-e\ c nth bi\('i; 



rw KNrV-SK\'K.\ 1 II INDIANA. 233 

ackeil not tar \ve>t of l-'rc(.k'rick the nitjjlit of tlie liVh. The 
march was resumed next morning, but was still a slow one. 

Our column eventually turned oflP to the right of tlie road we 
were on. and made a wide detour across fields, through woods, 
etc. It m ly have been intended at tiist that we should cross 
over to another road, or move around and strike the enemy in 
ilank. If this was the case, the plan was afterward aban- 
doned, for eventually we returned to the same road again, 
further on. Much of the ground passed over while we were 
thus marching cross-country was stony and rough — some of it 
was precipitous. 

As we approached the front we could easily recognize 
that a serious battle was in progress. We could see the smoke 
from the infantry lines on the mountain >ide, and, when dark- 
ness began to appear, we could see the flashes from the mus- 
kets. This was the struggle for the possession of Turner's 
Gap, a part of the Battle of South Mountain. It was late 
before we halted for the night. When we did. we had 
readied the edge of the battlefiel I. \ ery much fatigued, 
there, on the sloping mountain side, near the pike east of 
where it passes the summit of South Mountain, we were soon 
asleep. 

This stone pike, it may be remarked in passing, on which 
the battle of South Mountain was fought, and upon which, or 
near which, we marched at tliis time, is the continuation of 
the old National road, well remembered by most Indiana 
people whose recollections extend back some years before the 
Civil war. That road was projected to run from Cumberland. 
Maryland, to St. Louis, Missouri. This pike was the con- 
necting link between Cumberland and Baltimore. Our 
winter quarters, east of Frederick, known as Camp Halleck. 
were near the -same pike. The building of the National road, 
in connection with this eastern extension of it. was the means 
of bringing a great many Maryland people to Indian i in an 
early day. 

When day dawned next morning, the 15th, we found 
ourfeelves in the midst of a great many troops, some of them 
belonging to corps other than our own. and with which we 
had had nothing directly to do heretofore. W'c also found 
ourselves surrounded by many evidences of the battle of the 
day previous. After breakfast we lesumed our march, and 
passed on throu_,h Turner's Gap. On the way we saw a large 



1^84 HIs^()K^■ oi TirE 

number of dead rebels, dead liorses, disabled cai.s.son>. broken 
wheels, muskets, cartridge boxes, and other articles, always 
found upon a battlefield. Many thinLjs indicated that the 
flifjln of the enemy had been precipitous. 

In the town of Boonsboro. at the foot of the mountain 
on the west, our column filed to the left, on to the pike leading 
directlv to Sharpsburg. So manv wounded reljels had been 
left behind in Boonsboro, with so many surgeons and nurses 
to care for them, that it seemed to us as we passed through 
that the men in grav must be in peaceable posse>sion of tiie 
place. 

lieyond Boonsboro a short distance we turned into a field 
and halted. All the troops with which we were moving 
seemed to do the same. A large number of soldiers, belong- 
ing to various divisions and corps, were again in sight. All 
morning there had been great enthusi.-ism. and here it took the 
form of noisv demonstrations. All the men cheered and 
shoutetl lu>tilv. 

riie main reason for this exhuberance of spirits was, of 
course, the victory that hail l)een won. If the victory was 
not on a very large scale, the men did not understand that, 
and it encouraged them to believe that other victories were 
awaiting their etTorts. 

Another reason why tlie men cheered and shouted at this 
time was the presence of Gen. McClellan, Gen. Burnside and 
other high officials. As we had marched over the mountain. 
Gen. McClellan. w^ith hi-- endless retinue of staff officers, order- 
lies, clerks and body-guard, iiad passed us. After we had 
halted at this place. Gen. Burnside also came near us and 
stopped. Tliis was the first and la.-t time the writer ever saw 
Gen. Burnside. A numerous antl showv cavalcade trailed 
behind him wherever he went. 

It was the rule at this stage of the war to cheer whenever 
officers of high rank appeared. In fact, before Gen. McClel- 
lan had passed us, as before mentioned, an officer or ofiicers. 
riding in acKance of him, instructed us to cheer when he 
should pass by. Some of us iiave wondered since whether 
it could be that the General himself was in connivance with 
these otlicers. Anyway, here, near Boonsboro, after Gen. 
Burnside had come up witii considerable ostentation and 
many flourishe-^, and had received a tumultuous ovation. Gen. 
McClellan came a second time. At this, everybody went 



TWEN rV-SKVEN ril INDIANA. 235 

wild. The cheers and other demonstrations of apphuise and 
satisfaction were both loud and lons^. The soldiers seemed 
triad to see these high oHicers. and the officers themselves 
seemed rather to enjoy being seen. 

A considerable time was spent here in this wav. Nobody 
appeared to be in any hurry to terminate the matters in hand, 
or to proceed with anything else of more importance. Those 
who care to do so, may now speculate and philosophize as to 
what might haye happened, how much might haye been accom- 
plished for humanity, how many yaluable liyes, in the end, 
might have been saved, and how the course of history might 
have been changed, if those generals had been a little nearer 
the front ; if they had been more detinitely advised as to the 
exact posture of affairs at that point, and if they themselves 
and those about them, had been assiduously engaged in urging 
forward the operations of the army, striving to promote 
greater activity and zeal in all quarters, clearing the way here, 
pushing things along there, all laboring with might and main 
to strike a speedy and telling blow somewhere. Of all things, 
the battle of Antietam should be fought to-day, or, at the far- 
tliest, to-morrow. The Lost Dispatch states explicitly, over 
the signature of his adjutant general, that a large part of 
Lee's army is now absent from our front. By to-morrow even- 
ing, or at fartherest, the next morning, the absentees are 
expected back. These things have been abundantly confirmed 
by the prisoners taken recently. Is this a time for pompous 
displays of vainty and dilly-dallying measures of various kinds .■" 
When the Twenty-seventh moved it followed down the Sharps- 
burg pike, v'^ometime towards evening it went in to bivouac 
above the Fry house, where in the meantime, IMcClellan had 
established his headquarters. 

This point is west of Antietam creek, but near it. and 
was near the position of the enemy. While we were here we 
used water from the spring used by the Pry house. The picture 
■of this house, with its brick spring house, a siiort distance down 
the hill, and rather in front of the house, is familliar to the 
readersof Harper's Weekly, Harper's History of the Rebellion, 
the Century Magazine, and other publications. To one stand- 
ing facing this house the position of the Twentv-seventh 
would be a short distance (not much over one hundred yards) 
to his left. 

We remained at this point throughout the nigl.t of the 



236 nisTOKv oi' riiE 

loth, also all day, and part of the ni^ht, of the IGtii. The 
ground we occupied, though not especially low, was protected 
by higher ground some distance in front. From that higher 
ground a view could be had of some of the positions of the 
enemy. Soldiers of the Twenty-seventh relate that Gen. Mc- 
Clellan and other officers came, during the afternoon of the 
16tli, and were taking observations from this high ground. So 
many soldiers gathered about them that they drew the Hie of 
a rebel battery. The general did not retire himself, but he 
gave personal directions for the soldiers to do so. The writer 
does not personallv recall the incident. 

The IGth of September, was a quiet day with the Twenty- 
seventh, and seemed to be the same with all the troops in our 
vicinity. if much was done in the way of an endeavor to 
bring matters to an issue it must have been done entirelv 
beyond the range of our vision. The writer remember> dis- 
tinctly that when we lay down that night there was a division 
of sentiment among us. Part believed that next day would 
witness a desperate battle, liut others contended that it could 
not be so, as nothing had been done in the wav of preparing 
for it. There was some artillery firing during the day, and at 
intervals there was picket firing. Just before night closed in 
there was heavv nnisketrv on the riLflit. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



AXTIETAM. 

The progress of events brings us now to the most 
momentous day in the history of the Twenty-seventh — Sep- 
tember 17th, 18G2. This was signalized by the fierce and 
sanguinar}- battle of Antietam. in which the regiment was 
destined to bear a creditable part, though at great cost. The 
Twenty-seventli not only sutTered a greater loss at Antietam 
than in any other one of its engagements, but its per cent of 
loss was also greater. The members of the regiment and its 
friends are, therefore, constrained to regard it as the most 
important, as well as the most dramatic, day in its career. 

The battle of Antietam derived its name from the creek 
along which, both before and during the battle, the Union 
lines were drawn. The rebels called it the battle of Sharps- 
burg, that village being immediatelv in rear of their lines. 
Sharpsburg is lifteeen miles up the Potomac river from Har- 
per's Ferry, on the Marvland side. 

For about four miles from where the Antietam empties 
into the Potomac, its banks are high and steep. At that 
point, owing to a bend in the Potomac, the creek and river 
are less than two miles apart. .Vcross that narrow neck the 
rebel leader established his lines of battle, resting one ilank 
on the creek and the other near the river. It was naturally 
a strong position, with sunken roads, rocky ledges and stout 
post-and-rail fences to serve as protection for his men, and 
numerous knolls, ridges and patches of woodland, behind 
which to conceal his movements. 

As the Union army faced its adversary, the ground in 
front of its left wing was broken and rough. At its extreme 
left, the creek itself was deep enough to be a serious barrier, 
and had to be crossed under the enemy's tire. A little more 
towards its right, the crossing was not opposed, but, once 
over, the contest had to be waged where there were steep 
acclivities and deep ravines. At almost the extreme right of 



:28s KiSTouv OK the 

the Union army, however, the lighting was done in wide, 
gently undelating fields, with narrow strips, or small patches 
of woodland intervening. The interest of this narrative cen- 
ters upon this latter part of the battle-ground. 

Authorities, and memories as well, differ as to the time 
when the Twenty-seventh, with the other regiments of the 
brigade, left its position near the Pry house, east of the 
creek. It is not very important. It was in the night, after 
the camp had been wrapped in slumber. 

The awakening was not by the usual method of squeaking 
fife and rattling drum. On the contrarv, officers went to the 
low tents of the men and, stooping down, called in subdued 
tones. All fires or lights were prohibited and orders were 
stringent against noises of any kind. Packing up quicklv. 
the column moved stealthily in the murky darkness. Xo con- 
verj-ation, except in whispers, being permitted, there was 
nothing to do, but each to follow his file leader and meditate 
upon the situation. 

Davlight found the regiments of the Third Brigade massed 
close together and resting not far from the buildings of Mr. 
MelikofT. These buildings stood in low-like ground, some- 
thing like one hundred yards east of the Hagerstown pike, 
and from four to six hundred yards further north, and a little 
further away from the pike, then another group of farm build- 
ings marked on must maps as Joseph PoflFenberger's. 

The First Corps, under Hooker, occupies the front line. 
Our own little corps, for which we are just beginning to 
cherish a strong sense of pride, is in reserve. In the tir>t 
gray dawn the pickets open fire. Muskets never seem to 
crack so loud and wicked as on the picket line when a great 
battle is expected. A few shots then send the blood whirl- 
ing to the finger-tips of the whole army. Bang — bang — bang, 
bang, bang, bang, bang! The musketry increases rapidly, 
and almost immediately — boom, boom, boom I — the cannon 
join in, to increase the uproar. These are the signal guns, 
announcing a day of fate. In a very short time the battle 
has assumed large proportions. fudging by the uproar, the 
intrepid and devoted men of the First Corps are swiftly hurled 
against the enemy in masses. 

When the firing begins, the regiments of our brigade fall 
into ranks, and the Twenty-seventh marches forward of Mr. 
MelikofT's log barn, onlv a few rods. The regiment is then 



rWKN TY-SKXRN Til INDIANA. L'3V> 

(lirow 11 into column ot" divisions, close order, arms ;ire stacked, 
and the command sj^iven : "Rest at wil!" We are now 
ready tor any order that may come. 

While we wait, many of the men pour water out of their 
canteens into tlieir little tin pails, and make themselves a cup 
of cotTee.over the small Hres we have been permitted to kindle 
since daylight. With this black coflee and the crackers and 
raw pork in their haversacks, they eat a soldier's luncheon. It 
seems certain that we must very soon join in the battle. I'ew, 
if any, can forget tliat this may be ihe last food they will taste 
in this world, or the last, as well men. In fact, for that reason 
some of the more excitable ones cannotjeat a mouthful. ( )thers, 
not overburdened with sentiment, banteringly allege that they 
intend to eat all the more on that account. Yet, in one way 
or another, it is clearly revealed that the situation has awak- 
ened grave apprehensions with all. Many arrangements are 
made, quietly yet openly, which have reference to a possible 
dire contingency. Valuables and keepsakes are handed to 
members of the ambulance corps and others, whose duties do 
not require them to be greatly exposed. Directions are given 
and requests are made, concerning business matters at home, 
the care of those dear and dependent, messages to friends, 
and, in some instances, concerning the final disposition of 
one's own mortal remains. Among some curious preparations 
that morning was, that numerous packs of playing-cards were 
taken out of the pockets and thrown away. This fact was 
once mentioned in the presence of a veteran soldier, wdio said 
he had never seen anything of the kind. The members of the 
Twenty-seventh will doubtless confirm the statement that it 
was not only true here, but at many other places, with us. 

Our position is a little to one side of the range of the 
enemy's artillery. VVe can see dozens and scores of shells as 
they sail harmlessly by, describing graceful curves. Under 
other circumstances we might enjov the display. Numerous 
laige round shot, aimed lower, also go bounding along, plow- 
ing furrows in the ground and crashing through whatever they 
come in contact with. 

The wounded are coming back in large numbers. Man\ , 
though badly hurt, are able to walk alone, many others are 
assisted to walk, and some are carried or hauled. Most of 
those passing near enough have something to say. I'^very 
word is one of encouragement and cheer. These heroic men 



l'I(> histohv oi- riiE 

arc torn and bleeding, some of them are dviiiu. but none of 
tliem are whipped or demoralized. 

Upon the hiijher ground to our right, one lone, panicked 
" skedadler"" runs bv. judge of the character of tlie troops in 
our front when the fact is stated, and it is a fact, that this was 
the onlv able-bodied soldier we saw running out of the hglit ! 
This one is in a corntield and runs zigzag among the corn, 
dodging frantically from one hill across to another in the 
opposite row. as if trying to escape from a swarm of bees. At 
the sound of a passing shell he throws himself upon the grountl 
and remains motionless, with his nose rooted in the soil, while 
the shell goes a mile. This is the more ludicrous to us because 
we can see the shell, and can see plainly that, besides having 
passed him before he fell down, it had missed him by a wide 
margin anvwav. Eventually he jumps to his feet and runs 
as before. While the boys laugh, they also guy him unmerci- 
fully, heaping upon him epithets far more true than ct)mpli- 
mentarv. But nothing stops him. 

Meanwnile the battle is raging. For three hundred yards 
in our front the ground rises gradually. It seems to us that if 
we were over the crest we would be near the conilict. Ideally 
it is three-fourths of a mile bevond that. The roar of cannon 
is incessant and the discharge of musketry is far more than a 
continous rattle. There are almost no breaks in the detona- 
tions, like reports of indiviilual muskets. There is a succession 
of great waves of sound, one following another, as if brigades 
or divisions are firing in rapid, well-timed volleys. Inter- 
mingled with the artillery. musketry and cheers of the combat- 
tants, are other sounds not distinguishable. It is a commin- 
gling and confusion of noises as it rolls over the hill like a 
deluge. 

The progress of a devastating cyclone, with its lashing and 
snapping of trees, its creaking and grating of l)uildings rent 
assunder and topiiling over, its screaming and shrieking of 
men and animals, in mortal terror and agony, and a thousand 
other ear-splitting, blood-curdling sounds, all added to the 
rush and roar of the wind, the darkening of the clouds, the 
blinding of the dust and the rumble and peal of the thunder, 
is the onlv other human experience that the writer would ven- 
ture to compare with a battle, such as we were waiting to 
enter that morning. 

We have waited, since slacking arms, much longer than 



T\VENTY-SE\ENT1I INDIANA, 



241 



we anticipated. It has been a full hour of straining suspense. 
But the order has come to our corps commander, " Send for- 
ward a division." We see Gen. Mansfield riding towards us 
and surmise correctly that he is coming to order our di\i>ion 




Maj.-Gkn. J. K. Mansfield. 

(Killed at Antietaiii.) 



The old general had much of the courtlv, but not oflen- 
sive dignity which seems to have characterized the ofHcers of 
the old army, before the war. His bearing that morning as 
he rode around among his troops, his long white hair stream- 
ing in the wind, dieted great admiration. He sat erect and 
graceful in his saddle and gave his orders quietly but firmly : 
withal, he was so kind and fatherly. 

Before the order "Fall in " is given the boys run to tl.eir 

places, ready at the word to seize their muskets. As they 

stand tiius in ranks they greet the old general with cheers. 

He removes his hat in acknowledgement, and shouts : " Thats 

right, boys ; you may well cheer. We are going to whip them 

to-day.'' These statements are receixccl with still more cheer- 
16 



'242 IIISIOHV OK THE 

iny-. cspeciallv tlie allusion to a victory. At the conimancl we 
take arm.A ami move forward, formed as we are. To our right 
in plain view are the Third Wisconsin and Second Massachu- 
setts. In support are the Thirteenth New Jersey and One 
Hundred '.ind Se\enth New York. 

We move srraight towaul the tiring in front. At one 
point only the Twent3'seyenth obliques to the right, to avoid 
what in Indiana we call a huttonwood pond. With this 
exception our line, from the starting point to where we iinally 
halt and open fire, is practically straight. 

^^'hen we arrive at the top of the slope we find ourselves 
on the edge of a rather smooth and level tract of table land, 
extending on before us more than half a mile. Advancing 
on, we come to a narrow strip of open timber, extending back 
from Mr. PofTenberger's barn. Just before entering this tim- 
ber we encounter two stake-and-rider fences, bordering- a nar- 
row lane. To push these down sufficient for us to scramble 
over them is only the work of a moment. But it breaks our 
formation somewhat and, once among the big trees, we halt 
and readjust our ranks. In the pause we can hear a peculiar 
singing, humming noise in the tree tops. Looking up, the 
air seems to be in motion, only there is no movement among 
the limbs. Twigs and shredded leaves are sifting down as if 
an army of locusts was at work in this grove. It is canister 
and shrapnel hurled at the troops in front and at us in tons, by 
the rebel batteries. Classed as we are, we afford them a tempt- 
ing mark, though their aim is too high. 

During that brief pause the writer, for some reason, hap- 
pened to notice a large, straiglit-bodied tree. lie took it to 
be a black oak, from its resemblance to trees of that species in 
the forests of Indiana. On his return to this groye, in ISMJ, 
he was careful to look for this big tree. It was still standing, 
though it proved to be a gum instead of a black oak. 

Among other things, we imsling knapsacks in this narrow 
<trip of woods, We then mo\e on. and, just beyond the tim- 
ber, the command is given, ''Battalion, deploy into line of 
battle, double quick, march!'" The leading division marks 
time, while the others move proin[itly up and align with 
it. The officers, except the colonel, take their positions in 
the rear, while the forward movement continues at a slow, 
measured pace. 

Xo soldiers ever liad a better example of unllinching 



'I\\ i;.\ I 'I -Si:\KNI II INDIANA. 24.0 

courage or of ct)ol, scH-poised leadership than our colonel gave 
us that morning as we marched such a long di>tance under 
tire. His place was really in rear of the line, but he chose rather 
to ride quite a little ahead of it. With quiet ease he bestrode 
his horse, setting his face straight to the front, except when it 
was necessary for him to turn to give commands. .Vbout the 
time the regiment deployed into line one of the men was 
killed, others were wounded as we advanced, vet he rotle 
([uietly on. There was not a twitching of a muscle, not a 
cpiaver of the voice, not a movement or condition of anv kind. 
which indicated that he felt himself in the least pers-onal 
danger, or was in anv way influenced by his peculiar 
surroundings, 

\or is this example of the colonel out of keeping with 
the balance of the regiment. The alignment could not have 
been better, the step more regular or the movement more pre- 
cise and ([uiet. if we had been passing the grand stand on 
review. Every man walks erect, looks straight to. the front, 
touches elbows g ntly to the right, and there is perfect still- 
ness in the ranks. 

.Since passing through the strip of timber, part of the 
battlefield is open before us. J?oth combatants appear to be 
well n gh exhausted. Our people aremostlv retiring slowly , Init 
the enemy show no disposition to follow. Our troops withdraw 
on a line largely which carries them at a distance from our col- 
umn. Only one remnant of a regiment moves directlv towards 
us. The men go wild with joy and enthusiasm at the sight of 
reinforcements. They not only jump up and down and scream 
with delight, but thev also till the air with their caps, haver- 
sacks, canteens, rolls of blankets, and whatever else they have 
about them to toss upward. They abound in true grit also. 
Instead of passing around us and on to the rear, as thev might 
honorably do, they about face, reform their ranks, and move 
back before us, to renew the struggle. 

At length we halt and dress the line as usual. Then the 
Colonel commands, '■ Guides post I '" and gallops around the 
right wing of the regiment, to take his position in the rear. 
I'his is where we are to do our bloodv work, and where the 
!)loody work is to be done to us. A person coming here 
months afterwards, as manv of the Twenty-seventli did. will 
tnul this ]iosition distinctlv marked bv the catridge paners 
dropped at this time. The ground i* then thickly plastered 



■2U 



iiisroitv oi- TiiK 



with them and. from one flank of the rej^inient to the other, tlie 
line is as straight as a gun barrel. 




During the biief quiet that now ensucs. let us farther 
locate this position. We are in David R. Miller's field. His 
farm house is one Inmdred and liftv yards or ><) to our right. 
We face almost south, with a slight inclination to the west 
Seventy steps in front of our line, and exactly parallel with 
it, is a fence, bordering a cornfield. Th.is field is something 
like a right-angled triangle. The side next tons is its shorte>t 
side. The turnpike, to our right, borders its longest side, ll- 
third side, to our left, borders a cloverlield. If the tence 
between the cornfield and cloverfield was extended towards 
our position it would pass through one of our left companie.-. 
Hence the extreme left of the Twenty-Seventh faces the 
clovertield, while most of the regiment faces the cornfield. 

The fence running parallel with our line, and seventy 
steps in front of it, has been partially torn down, but -tiK 



TWKXTV-SEVEXTH IX 1)1 AX A, 



.'45 



itVori.]> considerable shelter lo men. when Ivinoj behind it. 
Immediately to our left is the timber, known in tiie history of 
the battle as '• East woods." Across the fieltls, to our front 
and right, we can see the white Dunker church, with the tim- 
ber behind it. known as " West woods."' When we iirst 
reach this position a house, some distance beyond us, but 
somewhat to our left, is on lire. The roof may have just fallen 
in. The tlame< burn fierce and stroim, but not hitrh. 








.J^ 



ThK DlXKKK ClUHCIl OX AxilETAM 1> A FTI. E I- I K LD . 

As the 'I'wenty-seventh takes position at this point, the 
Third Wisconsin also takes position immediately on our right. 
The line of both regiments follows the crest of a slight swell 
in the giound. At the same time, the Second Massachusetts 
is lost to our yiew as it passes into Mr. Miller's orchard. 
The Thirteenth New Jersey and One Iliuidred and Seyenth 
Xew York ha\e l)een ordered to halt within supporting dis- 
tance, in the rear. 

'1 hough we haye not tired a musket while advancing to 



.'4(; 



IIISTOIO" OK IIIK 



this position, when \vc reach it, and tlie Colonel passes to the 
rear, we open an irregular tire. The difHciilty is to see the 
enemy. He is lying down among the corn. Another dilticultv 
is that our own men have not entirely withdrawn fiom our 
front. But the men of the Twenty-seventh cooly stand with 
their muskets at a ready, and, when they clearly recognize a 
soldier in gray, they take deliberate aim and lire, taking the 
greatest care that they do not hurt any who wear the blue. 

Not for long, however, do we have to watch for and shoot 
at an obscure mark. Col. Colgrove says, in his report, after 
speaking of the enemy that w-as concealed among the corn : 
'• Immediately in front, or beyond the cornfield, upon open 
ground, at a distance of about four hundred ^-ards, were three 
regiments in line of battle, and further to the right, on a high 
ridge of ground, was still another regiment inline, diagonally 
to our line." These rebels are visible to us from the start, but 
out of range. Soon after we come to a halt they begin to 
move towards us. 

They would soon suffer more from our tire, but. about the 
time tiiey arrive in fair range, that same unfortunate mi>- 
understanding about who are our men, and who aie not, again 
prevails for i time, along at least part of our line. It mu>t 
have originated in the Colonel's caution not to tire into the few 
Union soldiers still in front of us, but nearer to us. It is 
mostly the error of line officers and file-closers. Being behind 
the line, they can not see as clearly as the men in the rank>. 
It was the only time that such a question was ever raised 
when the writer was present, and he remembers of looking 
closely at the adyancing rebels. It was impossible, at the 
distance they were then away, to distinguish them from L'niom 
troops, by their appearance alone. In the haze or smoke 
which rested upon the field, their uniforms looked as mucli 
like blue as gray. Their flags also hung down in the still air, 
showing the same colors as the Stars and Stripes, and the 
closest scrutiny failed to reveal any difference. 

On other grounds, there was no difficulty in deciding. 
Some of us had observed them since before they began to 
advance. They were then unquestionably behind the men 
who were firing upon us, and near a battery, which we cou'd 
plainly see belching its missiles in our direction, with might 
and main. 

Of course, the matter is not long in dispute, and ha< ni> 



TWKN rV-SK\K.N'I II INDIANA. 247 

worse eftVct than to rctiird the firing for a time. Even before 
the question has been settled in all quarters, the voice of tiie 
Colonel rin<2^s out like a clarion : "Battalion, make ready I " 
Instanth' a hush falls ui)()n the line. From one end of it to 
the other can be heard the click of the locks, as the hammers 
are pulled back. Before giving the rest of the command, the 
colonel savs : •' Xow, aim good and low, bovs I "" '"Aim low. 
boys, aim low!'' is repeated by the line oflicers. Then the 
Colonel : "Take aim. tire I " 

With instant desperation we all spring to the work of 
loading and liring at will. Still, those who glance at the 
enemy will see that that volley was a very damaging one. 
That the line against which it was directed would certainly 
have broken before it, if all parts of it hatl been equal! v in- 
jured, is evident. It appears as if almost half of the men had 
stumbled and fallen. The others halt and begin mixing among 
themselves, as if confused about something. We can see the 
otiicers exerting themselves very energetically. They wave 
their swords threateningly, and even seize hold of the men, 
turn them around and shove them forwaid. In this, the 
writer is recounting exactly what he saw hiinsell . The officers 
were hard put to to keep the line from demoralization. 

In the meantime, most of us have loaded and lired again, 
or e\en more than once. Our lire soon brings those of the 
enemy more directly in front of us to a standstill. Instead 
of trying to advance, thev drop down among the corn and in- 
crease their rtre upon us. 

But, slightly to the left of these (our left) is a regiment 
which continues to advance. They load and Hre as they come. 
They make a slight detour further to our left, apparently to 
take advantage of a depression of the ground. On and on 
they press, until they reach the fence, only seventy steps in 
front of the Twent^'-seventh. Those who observe them — how 
eager and persistent they are. stooping forward like a hunter 
stalking his prey, at last making one vigorous dash up to the 
fence and throwing themselves down behind it — will not soon 
forget the sight. 

It is from these men that the Twenty-seventh now receive^ 
its worst punishment. It is to the time immediately alter they 
reach the fence that Col. Colgrove refers when he says : '• At 
one time 'k * ■■;.■ {i-,g (^^^ ^f ^|jg enemy was so terribly de- 
structive it seemed that our little force would be entirely anni- 



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r\\ i;.\TV-SKVK\ 111 INDIANA. 1^49 

Iiilated." So, iiulced, it d\d. W'lio ever tried io stand liefore 
a more withering, consuniinii^ blast than we do nowr Every 
one that the e^e rests upon, even for a moment, is seen to fall. 
A soldier makes a peculiar noise in loading iiis gun, which 
attracts attention, but when we turn to look at him he falls. 
Another makes what he considers a good shot, and hiughs over 
it. When others turn to inquire the cause, he falU. A tiiird 
turns to tell the man in the rear rank not to fire so close to his 
face. Others glance in lliat direction, onlv to see both fall. 
/ 11 of these instances, and others, are observed by the writer at 
almost the same moment. 

We are standing out in perfectly open ground. Not as 
much as a frail spear of grass siiields anvone, from the crown 
of his head to the soles of his fcit. All stand perfectlv erect. 
l>om first to last not a man lies down, kneels or stoops, unless 
he is hurt. Moreover, we touch elbows constantlv. As fast 
as men fall out we close up the gaps, presenting at all times 
an unbroken front. The file-closers have work to do, and they 
do it well. There is a continuous shouting of "Close up I 
Close up !"" 

How long this continues will never be known precisely. 
Col. Colgrove says in his report, •• It must have been more than 
two hours.'' lie stated in after years that we were under fire 
at Antietem two hours and forty minutes. SuHice it to say, 
that to us it seemed an age. We have tiled as high as eighty, 
ninety, and even one hundred rounds each. Afany of our 
muskets have become so foul that we can no longer ram a ball 
down them, and we have exchanged them for those dropped 
by the killed and wounded. In other cases muskets have been 
exchanged because they were so hot that men were lifraid to 
load them. For some time otiicers and others have been gather- 
ing cartridges from the boxes of those hurt and distributing theoi 
to those who remain. It seems a miracle that anvone should 
still remain unhurt. Very few, indeed, are entirely so. There 
is scarcely a man on whom blooil has not been drawn in some 
way. 

It requires something more than a scratch to send men to 
the rear. A man in one of the companies — a typical Hoosier, 
tall, gaunt, and slow-spoken, but every inch a hero — is des- 
perately wounded. He lays his gun down and goes to the 
rear a short distance and calmlv investigates. At length he 
says, in his drawling wav : '" Wall, I guess I'm hurt about as 



•2o() 



bad as 1 can be. I believe 111 go back and i^ive 'em some 
more." So he does. lie walks slowlv back, picks up liis 
gun and continues to load and tiie. In another case a man is 
mortally wounded anil lyini^ upon the grounil, exposed to fur- 
ther injury, but he refuses the oiTcr of his own brother to 
remove him (o a place of safety. He bids him. r.ither. to 
remain where he is more needed. 

But we have not been iirinor for nothing all this time. If 
only a few of us are left, the enemy has suffered in at least 
equal proportion. It is most unfortunate that our line was 
not established along the fence, instead of where it is. or. fail- 
ing in that, that a Hanking column was not thrown forward 
sooner, to enfilade the enemy's line behind the fence. Either 
course would easily have saved much of the sad. sad loss in the 
Twenty -seventh and Third Wisconsin. 

As it is. those who are thinning our ranks so rapidly are 
not left to accomplish their work unmolested. The attention 
of more and more of our men is directed to those behind the 
fence, and our lire is concentrated upon that point. They 
doubtless think it is raining lead where they are. After the 
battle a single rail was foinul in that fence having forty five 
musket-balls in it. We observe increasing signs of uneasiness 
among all the men in our front. There has been a steady 
stream of them passing to the rear. The writer noticed many 
dilTerent n^en with muskets s])ring up quickly at one point 
along the fence, and run. and drop down at another ])oint. 
The men in the corn are likewise changing their position?^ 
frequently, and circulating among each other, more than they 
did. 

At length the piercing tones of Col. Colgrove's voice are 
again heard. The commanil is: •• I'ix bayonets!" ^\s we are 
in the act of doing this we see our antagonists rise up and 
move briskly awav. without any regard to order. We, of 
course, go wild with jov, anil begin to cheer with all our 
might. vSimultaneons with our cheers, we hear cheering both 
to our right and left. A glance shows us that, on oin* right, 
the Second Massachusetts has swung around, past Miller"- 
house, and is moving out into the cornfield. On our left, troops 
of our Second Division have come up through the woods 
and are now charging into the open ground, in splendid 
style. Leading tliem quite a distance, we recognize our 
grizzled friend of Williamsport. and the subsequent march — 



1 \vi:.\ IN' si:\i;\ I II Indiana, 



251 



(jen. (jrc'cn. I >;irclic:ulcil. \vi I h drawn s\v<)i-il, and horse at a 
stiff" trot, his was a ligiiie to reinembcr. 

At the command, our line moves rf)rward. Down the 
modest slope to tiie tragic fence. o\er that and on, bi'tween 
the bloody corn rows, with their cut and hackled corn-stalks, 
advancing our left as we go. we do not halt until near 
the strong po'-t-and-rail fence, boi dering tlie turnpike. The 
enemy have leaped this fence and escaped into the limber 
bevond. 




Ri:r.i:i, Dkad i\ fko.ni" oi I^ast Wood.^ 



This [)racticallv terminates (uir lighting for tlic dav. 
Tlieie is more bloody lighting by others, but the Twenty-sev- 
enth is not ordered to participate actively. Our brigade is in 
the act of forming for a turther advance, when a strong divi- 
sion of vSumner's corps (Sedgwick's) moves up from a diiec- 
tion somewhat to our left and relieves us, A fact often 
mentioned bv historians in this connection is well remembered 
by us, namely, that the white-haired Sumner, with his hat in 
one hand and his sword in the otiier, led this column into 
action. lie was another uld man who still retained the fire 
and energy of youth. 

On being relievetl the 'I'wcnty-sevent h moved back close 



252 iiisTOuv oi ruF 

to the edge of the East woods, wliere we replenished our cart- 
ridge-boxes and then our equally vacant stomachs. Col. Col- 
grove says we went into battle without anv breakfast. He 
doubtless did so himself, as the men did also, with the excep- 
tions previously mentioned. Whatever was eaten then was 
without any orders bearing upon the subject. We also cleaned 
our guns at this time or, exchanged them for others, of which 
there were hundreds scattered about everywhere. 

It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary to state that the Twen- 
ty-seventh was greatly reduced in numbeis. It was even 
more reduced than the long list of ca'-ualties would indicate. 
In addition to those who were finally reported wounded, others 
should have been so reported, and still others were temporarilv 
disabled. All told, not enough were now present to make 
one fair-sized company. 

Nevertheless, the regiment responded with alacritv to 
every call of duty. In checking some temporarv reverses and 
in supporting batteries, the Twenty-seventh, sometimes in 
connection with other regiments of the brigade and soiretimes 
alone, spent \\ hat remained of the dav. We did not remain 
long in one place. At no time were we very far t^eliind the 
battle line, a portion of the time, liter in the dav. constituting 
a part of it Throughout the entire dav we were exposed 
either to artillery or musketrv tire, or both. 

At one of the times, later in the dav, when the exposure 
was considerable from overshnts, Capt, Kopp, of Company F, 
was mortallv wounded. The circumstances attending it were 
an illustration, both of the curious way casualties may come 
in battle and of their curious effects. The captain had passed 
through the eNtreme exposure of the morning imtouched. It 
is not unreasonable to suppose that manv bullet^ were then 
tired at him directly, at short range, without any of them hit- 
ting him ; but now he falls by a stray bullet, not lired at him 
at all. 

Another curious circumstance was that when first hit he 
supposed the injury was in his lower limbs. He exclaimed, 
apparently in great pain, that both of his legs were broken. 
As he was being carried to an ambulance, what was the sur- 
prise of all to see him suddenly rise up and walk? The wound 
was reallv in his bodv. but ihe spinal column had been 
injured. 

About 5:t>0 P. M. a fresh corp> ( l'ranklin"> ) came to the 



rWKX rV-SH\ENTII INDIANA. 253 

front ami was formed for a final assault, near the Duiiker 
cinircli. Our brigade was ordered by Gen. McClellan in per- 
son to form htliind it as a support. All of tiie regiments 
responded with a cheer. In tiie light of what is now known 
as to the weakness of the enemy's left, at that time, it is most 
disheartening that the assault was not made. It reallj' seems 
that the rebel commander could .-afely take any kind of rii-k 
imder McClellan's very nose. If the battle had been renewed 
the weary and smoke begrimed soldiers of Gordon's brigade 
were ready. On this point Col. Colgrove's testimony is plain 
and to the point. He says, "At night I was temporarily Ijy 
you (Gordon), placed in command of the brigide, and the 
brigade marched to the front, and nearest to the enemv. in 
support of our batteries in front. Although our men had 
gone into the fight without breakfast, and had fought all day, 
they performed tiiis arduous tiuty, not only without grumbling, 
but w th cheerfidness. 

A vast amount has naturally been written about this 
battle, with more to follow, in this the Tweiitv-seventh has 
not been without some share. 

Col. Co^grove made his written report tive days after the 
engagement. He states, with commendable accuracy, the 
salient facts relating to the services and movements of the 
regiment that day, including, in part^ its relation to the bri- 
gade as a whole. lie refrains, as usual, from fulsome adula- 
tions of his own command, and insinuations or reilections as 
to others. But he shows a disposition always to speak a good 
word for either, when deserving of it. With reference to our 
desperate encounter with the enemy, he sa) s : 

" The Twenty-seventh Indiana rej^iment moved to a point designated 
by you (Gordon), and formed their line of battle on a swell of ground 
innnediately in front of a corntield, in which the battle had been raging 
f(jr some time. Our troops in the corntield, a part of Gen. Hooker's divi- 
sion, had been badly cut up, and were slowly retreating. When we first 
gained our position, the cornfield, or nearly all of it, was in possession 
of the enemy. This field was on a low piece of ground, the corn very 
heavy, and serving, to some extent, to screen the enemy from view. Yet 
the colors and battle-flags of several regiments, appearing above the 
corn, indicated the advance of the enemy in force. Immediately in front, 
beyond the cornfield, upon open ground, at a distance of about four hun- 
dred yards, were three regiments in line of battle; and still farther to the 
right, on a high ridge of ground, was still another regiment in line, diag- 
onally to our line. When we first took our pos tion, it was impossible for 
us to open fire upon the enemy without firing into our own troops, who 



i!54 llIs^()K^ ()!• iiie 

wtTc relrealinii out of the corntieid. As soon as those troops had filed 
past 1113' left, I immediately ordered my regiment to fire, which was done 
in good order. The firing was very heavy on both sides, and must have 
continued for more than two hours, without any change of position on 
either side. It was very evident, from the firing, that the enemy was 
greatlv superior in numbers at this point. The only force, during this 
time at this place, engaged, was the three regiments of your brigade. At 
one tfme, during this part of the engagement, the fire of the enemy was 
so terribly destructive that it seemed our little force would l)e entirely 
annihilated. After the fight had raged for about two hours, without any 
l)erceptible advantage on either side, some of our forces— I have not 
learned whose came up on our left, in a piece of woods on the left of 
the cornfield, and opened an enfilading fire upon the enemy. This fire 
and ours, in their front, soon proved too hard for them. They broke, and 
fled in utter confusion into a piece of woods, on the right. We were 
then ordered to fix bayonets and advance, which was promptly done. 
Advancing through the cornfield, we changed front to the right, ****«-* 
and had advanced over the larger portion of the ground, when we 
were ordered to halt. I soon discovered that Gen. Sumner's corps 
had arrived, and were fresh, not having yet be^n in the action, and the 
work of dislodging the enemy from the woods ***** had been assigned 
to them." 

Two oilier official reports, relating to the battle, seem to 
require attention. One of these, as might easily be guessed, 
is the report of our own brigade commander, whose reports 
ami other published statements concerning the battles of Win- 
chester and Cedar Mountain have been noticed heretofore. 
Gen. (jordon does not directly assail the reputation of the 
Twenty-seventh this time, suprising to relate. But his studied 
omissions and misleading generalities, considering the facts, 
reallv amount to a more serious afl'ront. 

During the progress of our sustained and bloodv encounter 
in fiont of the cornfield, we saw nothing of Gordon. Where 
he was during this fiery ordeal, or why some move was not 
ordered by him that might easily have relieved tiie situation 
and saved many v.iluable lives in our regiment, and that of 
the Third Wisconsin, has never been explained. After the 
crisis was passed, however, about tlie time the line came to a 
halt near the fence bordering the pike, he dashed up to our 
colonel and, with his customary efTusiveness and attention to 
--tage efl'ects, took off his cap and said, in the hearing of all 
who remained of the regiment, '' Colonel Colgiove, I want to 
congratidate vou and your men. "^'ou ha\e covered your- 
selves all over wilii glory." 

^'et. in ids oflicial report, which was intendeil first for 



r\v i:n-'i \-sk\i;n Til Indiana. 1',).) 

the infoi niiition of those hiii^her in authority, and was then \n 
be tiled away and C()n>tilute a record lor all time, we iind 
nothing of this kind. His report is, as usual, nuicli the longest 
and most verbose of any l)iigatle commander engaged in the 
battle, on either .>-ide. 'I'hrough four closelv printed octavo 
pages in the Records of tlie Rebel! on, he fairlv riots in 
tropes and figures, piles adjectixes upon each other, and deals 
out fulsome compliments right and left. Hut, to the clash of 
arms in front of the cornfield, which for duration and severity 
has few parallels in the entire history of the war, and wiiere 
the causalties in his brigade were four times as great, and the 
in)ury inflicted by the infantry of his brigade upon the enemv 
ten times as great, as during all the balance of the dav, he 
devotes barely one high-sounding but deceptive sentence. 
Here it is : ''Before this impetuous charge and the withering 
fire of our line, tlie enemy h.alted, wavered, iled in con- 
fu'-io.i, and sought shelter in the woods opposite, from 
whence he had emerged." 

How long did the enemy " halt " and •• wa\er"' liefore he 
••tied in confusion.'" \\'iiar did he do while he was thus 
•• halting " and "wavering.'"' Did he happen to have anv 
deadly weapons along with him. or did he think to use what 
he had along r There is not the slightest intimation concern- 
ing any of these points in this tangle of words. Would any- 
one imagine from this statement that there was a most des- 
perate and destructive encounter in\olved here, in which two 
lines ot battle savagely faced each other for from one to two 
hours, and in which at least two regiments on our side sus- 
t.uned a per cent of loss ranking well up to any that was sus- 
tained by any regiment on the liiion side during the war: 
while at least one regiment on the other side, sustained the 
highest per cent of loss of any regiment in the Confeder- 
ate army, in any one engagement.-"' On the contrar}-, the 
unavoidable meaning of his statements, as for as they can be 
said to have any meaning, is that there was a spirited dash, 
soon over and attended with few causalties. 

Moreover, while speaking of the situation at this point, 
(iordon associates the First Brigade of our di\ision and the 
Second division of our corps so closely with his own brigade 
that whatever of credit there is, is thus divided equallv among 
them all. The fact was, as Col. Colgrove plainly states: 



:?i)6 IllSTOHY <)l I HE 

•• The only force, durintf this time, at this phice. engaged \va> 
the three old regiments of your (Gordon's) brigade." 

True, in the summing up. (ien. Gordon includes the 
Twenty-seventii, along with the other regiments of his brigade, 
in what might possibly be taken as a compliment. He says : 
" I cannot too highly praise the conduct of my brigade of 
regiments, old and new." Tie also names the Twenty-seventh 
among the old regiments, from which he says he " had a right 
to expect much."" and " was not disappointed," adding con- 
cerning these old regiments, '' Veterans of Winchester and 
Cedar Mountain, they can add to their laurels the battle of 
Antietam Creek." 

Another ofHcial report demanding some notice is that of 
Colonel (afterwards (ieneral) Knipe. He was temporarily in 
command of a brigade here, and, in his report, alleges that the 
Twenty-SQveni h Indiana fired into the rear of one of his regi- 
ments. It is diilicult, under all the circumstances, to account 
for such a statement on any theory that is creditable to the one 
making it, as. indeed, it is difficult to discuss the matter in a 
spirit of forbearance, or would be, this case alone considered. 
But this is tiie same Knipe with whom we had such agreeable 
relations afterwards, particularly at Peach Tree creek, and it 
seems best to pass this break of his by. That the allegation, 
whatever the motive or information upon which it was 
founded, could not be true, can easily be established. All 
otiicial reports concur in placing the Twent v-^e\'enth Indiana 
on the left of the Third Brigade, where we know it was ; while 
the First Brigade was on the right of the Third, and the regi- 
ment named as having been tiretl into was near the right (jf 
the First. This meant an interval of several hundred yards 
betW'Cen the two regiments. The advance of the line as thu> 
formed was straight to the front until the enemy was encoun- 
tered, and after tlult there was no change in position until the 
battle at that point was over. Subsecpient to that the Twenty- 
seventh did not fire a musket. So, such an occurrence as tlie 
one named was simply impossible. 

Col. Vox * credits the Twenty-seventh with a loss at Antietam of 
41 killed and mortally wounded and 168 wounded, not mortally; none 
missing. The writer has not progressed with his labors on the roster of 
the regiment far enough as yet to be ready to say whether or not his 
researches will yield results that tally exactly with Col. Fox. His figurts 
will be found in the Roll of Honor on another page. 

*Regiinental Lcsses. 



T\VHNTV-SE\KN"ni INDIANA. 1'.j7 

Till' l);ittlL- of Antit'tam has nut thus far rccfived the popular n-coLT- 
nition that it would seem fairly entilk-d to. Its intensity was remarkable, 
if not unprecedented. More men were killed and wounded fiere in one 
day than in any other sini^le day of the war. It has the distinction, there- 
fore, of being the bloodiest day since the invention of gimpowder, with the 
possible exception of Waterloo. The battle was also attended with yreat 
and far-reachinu: results, far i^reater and further reaching than appear to 
be commonly understood. It is a mistake to call it a drawn battle, as has 
often been done. From every standjioint it was a Union victory. 

In its immediate issues, Antietam was a I'nion victory most oppor- 
tune and vital. If the Tnion army had lost the battle, or lost the prestige 
of victory here, it is diffcult to see how anything could have been .saved 
afterwards. But throughout the savage contest, notwithstanding a deter- 
mined and bloody resistance, the Union army steadily beat back its adver- 
sary. At the close of the battle it had possession of substantially all the 
ground fought over, and of all the killed and wounded of both armies, not 
previously removed. If the victory was not overwhelming, neither was 
any other, won by either side, in any really great l)attle of the war. If 
both contending armies remained sullenly facing »ach other for a time 
after hostilities had practically ceased and then one withdrew, almost 
unmolested, that was also true at other places which have never been 
recognzied as drawn battles, notably at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. 

When the Confederate army retreated from Antietam it did so as a 
defeated army. It had not only been sorely pimished, fully half of its 
effective strength being killed and wounded, including a due proportion 
of valuable officers: bnt its impetuous advance fiad been effectually 
checked and its high hopes and ambitions had been withered as in a 
simoon. . Even more tha.i this, ic had been forced to turn its back and 
flee away from the same army it had been defeating in a series of previ- 
ous battles, to abandon its plans for holding on to Maryland and of mov- 
ing against Baltimore and Philadeljjhia. Above all, its roseate dreams of 
taking Washington, and of dictating terms of peace, had been rudely trans- 
formed into substantial realities of ([ui e the opposite character. 

On the other hand, the Union army, after the battle of Antietam, was a 
victorious army. It not only had the outward evidence of victory, but it 
also had the inward refreshing ami inspiration which victories bring to 
soldiers, and which always mean so much. These results of victory 
were never more of a God-send than at this time. If there was some 
disappointment that greater advantage was not taken of the victory, it 
was only rendered possible by the evident fact and the universal stimulus 
of the victory itself. That so much had been accomplished was the sole 
ground of expectation that more would be attempted, if not the sole cause 
of the eagerness to attempt more. 

In its more remote issues the battle of Antietam was, if possible, 
more opportune and vital than in its direct issues. At this point, espe- 
cially, It would certainly seem that the facts are not fully known or a|)])re- 
ciated. When they are thus known and appreciated, this battle can 
scarcely fail to take its place along side of other notable battles of his 
tory, which have- changed the map of the world, or greatly bem-hted 
mankind. 

17 



258 inSTOKV OF TIIK 

The battle of Gettysljurt; is popularly said to mark the hi>,fh tide of 
the rebellion. The statement is evidently true, in a sense, from the stand- 
point of the rebellion itself. But the reverse of the statement is not true- 
f rem the standpoint of the other side. In other words, low tide on the 
Union side was not reached in the sum:n;'r of 186:^. That point must 
have been reached, on that side, in the early autumn of 1862, just previ- 
ous to the battle of Antietam. Do intellij^ent people, as a rule, compre- 
hend how extremely critical and desperate the situation was at that junc- 
ture? Certamly at no other did the facts pertaining to the conditions 
and positions of the armies, the revenues and functions of the Govern- 
ment, and the conduct and spirit of the jieople, as well as other impor- 
tant contingencies, warrant such appalling apprehensions. So many 
battles had been fo'ight and lost, so many cam])aigns had resulted dis- 
asterously, There had been so much jealousy, bickering and want of co- 
operation among those in high places, such vast sums of money had been 
spent with nothing to show for it, the credit and revenues of the Govern- 
nieet were so inadequate to its needs, apathy, greed, place-hunting and 
open sympathy for secession, were so wide-spread in the states supposed 
to be loyal; above all, and even overshadowing all. the recognition of the 
independance of the so-called Confederacy, by England and other for- 
eign nations, was so imminent, that the destiny of the Repuy)lic trembled 
in the balance. At no other time since Washington's bare-footed, starv- 
ing band of patriots left their bloody fo()t|)rints in the snows of \'alley 
Forge, have the aspirations of humanity for self-government l>een so 
alarmingly threatened with a total eclipse. 

The men who did most of the fighting at Antietam had marched there 
a set of long-haired, filthy, lousey tatterdemalions. The Twenty-seventh 
may, {)erhaps, be taken as a fair example of others, in these respects. 
Our plight was never so sorry at any other time. There never was so much, 
to dishearten and demoralize at any other stage of our service. It had 
been so long since fresh supplies of clothing and shoes had been availa- 
ble, our marches had been so continuous and toilst)me, we had been 
exposed so much to all kinds of weather, day and night, opportunities to 
cleanse our persons or clothing had been so infrequent, and we had been 
reduced to such extremes of destitution in many ways, that we were really 
objects of commisseration, if not loathsome in our own eyes. Many of 
the regiment were entirely shoeless, while the shoes of those best pro- 
vided for would scarcely hang to their feet. The chief comfort of the 
newest shoes among us was that, after wading streams or mud-puddles, 
as wed d every day, the water necessarily getting in, had every facility 
for getting out. Pants were out at the seat and knees and frayed off at 
the bottoms anywhere from the ankles upward. Numbers had no coats, 
and the coats of others had holes in the elbows, were ripped at the seams, 
<leficient as to tails, soiled and discolored. And, under the conditions 
named, it goes without saying that all the clothing of all the men was 
infested with vermin. It was a common practice at this time to turn 
whatever garment was slept in wrong side out every night, before lying 
down, to give temporary relief from crawling, scratching and biting 
graybacks, until the dead sleep of a tired soldier could supervene. Three 
davs after the battle of Antietam the writer stood i)ickt't in the vilhiL'^e of 



T\VK\TY-SK\EN'I'II I \ P I A X A . l\")0 

Sandy Hook, Maryland. In lliat pul)lic [ilacc-, in open dayliglit, he 
walked his beat, tirat without a shirt and then without pants, while the 
remnants of those vermin-infested, dirt-beijrinnned articles were boding 
in a broken kettle found in the streets. All the other members of a large 
detail, including the commissioned officer in command, did likewise. 
There was a spirited, if not acrimonious contention as to who should have 
precedence in the use of the kettle. The possibility of missing the 
opportunity was something to ((uarrel over. Kilth and livestock had 
become unendurable. It may be thought that such things were com- 
mon durmg the war, but not on such a large scale and in the imme- 
diate vicinity of the National Capital and other populous Northern 
cities; certainly n it because of ths sheer inability of the Government 
to <h) better for those serving, as it were, under its own direct supervision. 

But there were other conditions more serious and far more portent- 
ous. During the previous summer and fall large armies had responded 
to the call of the President. They had been organized, equipped and 
disciplined, and in the spring had moved out to suppress the rebellion. 
For a time they had seemed to be uniformly successful. The Army of 
the Potomac, the one now at Antietam, had at one time forged its way 
to within hearing of the church bells of Richmond, the city which it was 
<^xpected to capture. But, after consecrating much of the country be- 
tween the Chesapeake and the rebel stronghold with loyal blood and 
dotting It with loyal graves, it had suffered one defeat after another and 
been scattered and disorganized, through incompetency and inward dis- 
sensions, until a remnant of itself — it was north of the Potomac, and 
many of its fnendsseriously doubted whether it could successfully defend 
Washington. Another great army, which had swept victoriously througli 
Kentucky and Tennessee and whose flags and guidons had fluttered in 
the breezes of Alabama and Mississippi, was at this precise date running 
a race with its antagonist for the Ohio river. In alarm and consternation 
loyal men inquired concerning it: "Can it successfully defend Louis- 
ville, Cincinnati and the country back of them?" A third great army, 
<lesigned for the opening of the western rivers, had won the most sub- 
stantial victories of any of them, with important help from a sister army 
on at least one occasion. I5ut in recent months it had been so broken 
into detachments by well-meant though ill-advised orders from \\'ash- 
ington, .so weakened and decimated by sickness, and, as a result of these, 
s<j foiled and harrassed by the enemy, that the question concerning it 
was, "What has become f)f it?" In short, almost everything seemed to 
be .going wron ^ with the Union army. Reports of defeats, surrenders, 
retrogade movenumts, disasters and disappointments of various kinds, 
followed each other in rapid succession. Soldiers in the army, as well as 
outside of it, really began to give place in their minds to the shameful 
suspicion that maybe , after all, Northern soldiers were not equal to South- 
ern soldiers on the battlefield. The most fatal, as well as the most dis- 
creditable thing that can hapi)en to men under arms, namely, a distrust 
<if their own prowess, and an overestimate of that of theii' foes, was in 
the actual process of coming about with many who wore the blue. 

Along with the gloomy aspect in the military situation, and largely 
as a result of it. the Governnent was in sore straits in other res[)ects. 



2(j() IIISTdKV (IF THK 

Nut the least of these was the financial problem. Specie payments had 
])een discontinued and the premium on specie was advancing with rapid 
strides. United States bonds brought less and less in the market every 
day. There was no money to pay the army. The men who bore the 
brunt of the battle of Antietam had marched two weeks previously through 
the capital of the nation, under the shadow of its stately public build- 
ings, with their pay in arrears from four to eight months. At Alexandria, 
when Pope's army fell back from Second Bull Run, the writer first saw 
a [liece of the fractional currency, now historic. During the battle of 
Antietam there was not a five-cent " shin plaster," as they were derisively 
called, among a thousand men, outside of a few officers. Hundreds of 
soldiers died at Antietam in defense of the very weakened, embarassed 
Government that was not able to pay the small pittance it owed them, for 
their previous service in the field. 

The fact that enlistments ha I been at a standstdl at the north and 
that there was a rising tide of hostility, secret plotting and open opposi- 
tion with reference to the prosecution of the war, and the farther fact of 
the impending calamity of recognition of the Confederacy by other nations, 
need not be discussed at length in this ccmnection. Both of these mat- 
ters, it must be admitted, continued as factors in the problem of the 
Nation's struggle for life, as did the other matters that have been men- 
tioned, for a considerable period after this. Possibly none of them were 
finally settled until everything was settled at Appomattox. The conten- 
tion here is, that all of them were at an accute stage in the fall of 1862. 
More than this: no one of them really reached such an accute stage at 
any other period as at this ])eriod. If defeats came to our armies further 
on they were not all defeated at t' esame time. If our national authorities 
had further troubles about money matters they were never again reduced 
to such extremes that they could not in some measure meet their oV^liga- 
tions to the soldiers at the front. If the fire in the rear did not cease 
until after the one in the front ceased (long after) it was neither so great 
in volume, nor so aggressive, as it was now. All of these things com- 
bined were the indications and the cause of low tide. From the stand- 
point of the Union side, the tide never was as low at any other time. 

The battle of Antietam marked the beginning of a decided change 
for the better. Many of the reasons for this are obvious in connection 
with the conditions mentioned as jireceeding the battle. A Union victory 
could not fail to improve all of those conditions, particularly a victory 
here. The armies engaged on both sides here, the fact that those armies 
were both largely present in their full, effective strength, in mostly an 
open country, wholly without artificial defenses, the sections in which the 
two had been principally recruited, the fact that the rebel army here 
was admitted in all quarters to be the best organized, equipped and com- 
manded of any in the field or that side, all of these facts, and others, 
gave force to the influence exerted l)y this victory. No other battle of the 
war contributed so much towards the final settlement of the (juestion of 
the relative fighting ([ualities of Northern and Southern soldiers, and the 
kindred one of the ultimate possibility of putting the lebellion down by 
force. No sane man could doubt, after this, that the men from Pennsyl- 
vania, New Jersey, New York, the New fLngland states or from any 



T\\ KN"'rv-si-:\'EN'iii INDIANA. :2t j 1 

N(.irlhcrn statt-, wcri; eijual, man for man, to those from \irginia, South 
Caroh'na or any Southern state. This carried with it the further postulate 
that the right kind of leadership, able to combine and use effectively the 
superior numbers and the greater resources, of the loyal states, was all 
that was needed to conquer a permanent peace. It is only subsequent 
to th.s battle that the proper spirit and recjuisite amount of energy along 
ihese lines can be traced in many cpiarters. 

One indirect result of the battle of Antietam remains to be mentioned- 
It is really a stupendous one, and surely has been overlooked heretofore 
by a great many wise and thoughtful people. That fact is that, as a 
result ot the victory here. President Lincoln issued his immortal 
Emancipation Proclamation! 

'Ihese considerations have been already too much extended, so that 
this phase of the subject need not be enlarged upon. Each link in the 
chain of incidents, however, is a thrilling one. The jiroclamation had 
been decided upon, after how much deep, earnest reflection and ])ro- 
longed, racking anxiety, the world will never know. The one, only con- 
dition, earnestly besought on his knees before Almighty God, and 
expressly stipulated from both God and men, was a victory for the Union 
arms; one that would furnish the vantage ground to give the i)roclamation 
force. The battle of Antietam occurred on the 17th of September and on 
the 22d of the same month — five days afterwards — the preliminary pro- 
clamation was launched into history. Who can believe that this was not 
the real turning point in the war? This enlisted upon one side the 
enlightened and humane of all nations. This settled the fate of recogni- 
tion by England. It awak>;ned sympathy and attracted to our cause 
friends in that country, whose labors in opposition to recognition form one of 
the most glowing pages of history. The writer knows of nothing stronger 
< ir more eloquent in forensic literature than some of the speeches of John 
Bright, who fought recognition most heroically. Before it was proposed 
to free the slaves in the United States, his lips were sealed. But when the 
I-Lmancipation Proclamation was i)romulgated he threw himself into the 
<liscussion, heart and soul. In one of his speeches to a great meeting of 
laborers in Birmingham — out of work, because of the suspension of the 
cotton industry — our blockade having cut off the supply of cotton — Mr. 
Bright said: " My countrymen, who work for your living, remember 
This: There will be one wild shriek of freedom which will startle all 
mankind, if the American Republic is overthrown." Further along he 
said: " The leaders of this revolt propose this monsterous thing: They 
jiropose that over a territory forty times as large as England, the blight 
and curse of African slavery shall be forever perpetuated." Farther 
along still he used the following burning words, containing a prophecy 
alreatly gloriously fulfilled: " As for me, I can not believe in such a f-r-te 
befalling that fair land, stricken as she now is with the ravages of war. 
I can not believe that civilization in her journey with the sun will sink in- 
to endless night to gratify those 

■ Who seek to warte tlirouRli slauKliter tn :i throne. 
And shut tlie icntes of mercy on mankind.' 

" P)Ut 1 have a far other and far brighter vision before my gaze. I see 
one vast confederation stretching, in unbroken line, from the frozen north 



262 iii>i()i{v oi riiE 

to the glowing soutli and from the rough billows of the Atlantic, west- 
ward to the calmer waters of the Pacific main. And I see one language, 
and one law, and one faith, over all that broad land, the home of freedom 
and the refuge for the oppressed of every race and every clime.'" John 
Bright and his sturdy caloborers, no recognition, emancipation, Antie- 
taml The great sacrifice of the Twenty-seventh and so many others was 
not in vain. The immense risk of the living who passed through (though 
not unscathed) that veritable hell of carnage and death in that open 
cloverfield and in other localities, was worth all it cost. \'ictoryI Present 
victory, and final victory! I 

The statement will probably he surprisini^ to some, but 
the question remains vet unsettled as to what Confederate 
troops confronted the Twenty-seventh and the other regiments 
of the old Third Brigade at Antietam. The writer has labored 
assiduously to settle the ciuestion in his own miiul, without 
success. The disposition with most is to conclude that they 
were either the regiments of Colquit"s brigade. I). H. Hill's 
division, or those of WofTord's brigade, of Hood's division, 
though there are difhculties in the way of accepting either of 
these conclusions. 

As far as the credit of the men of our brigade is con- 
cerned, it cannot matter very much how the Cjuestion is 
decided, if it ever is. From the beginning to the end of the 
battle, in the vicinitv of where we were engaged, the contest 
was terrific, and few regiments on either side escaped without 
losing at least half of their men. One of the chief difficulties 
in making out the order in wliich particular commands on the 
enemy's side were brought forward, or the particular scene of 
their operations, is that, in their desperate efforts to hold their 
own, they seemed to hurl men into the hght without much 
regard to what brigade, division or corps thev belonged to; 
and wherever they were ordered in, or whoever they con- 
fronted on our side, the}' were rotighly handled. Many offi- 
cers, as well as men, were killed, and many reports are. 
therefore, incomplete or not on recoid. 

For these reasons, as well as the fact that the e\ idence 
available seemed inconclusi\e and contradictory, the writer 
felt obliged to abandon the hope of arriving at a satisfactory 
solution of the matter. For a time he was inclined to believe 
that it was W'ofl'ord's brigade, or a part of it — the First Texa*;. 
Hamptons Legion, the Eighteenth (Georgia, and another 
regiment not clearly designated — that was of interest in thi> 
connection. Many survivors of the Third Hrigade will iv- 



'1\VKNTV-SK\E\'I'II INDIANA. 263 

nicnibor the fact Stated lierctoi'ore, and nieiitioned in the report 
of Colonel Colgrove, that, when \ve arfi\ed at tlie point on the 
field where we did our lightinfr, four regiments of the enemy 
were in sight, or immediately came in sight, at the far side of 
the corntield, possibl}- a little beyond the cornfield. At first 
they were out of range and massed in some formation or 
other. But they at once moved forward, deploying into line 
as they came, until they joined battle with us. The move- 
ments of these regiments and the positions they eventually 
occupied are very distinctly remembered by the writer. It 
would be dil^icidt, if not impossible, for him to believe that 
any regiments were the ones in front of us, whose movements 
or relative positions \yere stated, or admitted to be, different 
from what we saw at the time. 

The statements of two regimental commanders in Wof- 
ford's brigade, Colonel Work, of the First Texas, and Colonel 
Ruff, of the Eighteenth (Jeorgia, in their official reports, 
correspond very closely, in many particulars, to what the-, 
writer and so many others witnessed. Colonel Work is the 
only regiiv.cntal commander on that side, as far as the pub- 
lished reports indicate, who mentions any such a movement 
by his regiment on this part of the field as the writer and 
many others remember as being made by one of the regiments 
in question. 

As narrated heretofore, three of the four rebel regiments 
in question, in their advance through the cornfield, towards 
our position, halted before reaching the fence, bordering the 
cornfield on the side next to us. These three regiments did 
not, at anytime, come nearer than within seventy-five yards- 
of that fence. One of the regiments, however, the one on 
their right (our left), making a slight detour and following 
the course of a depression in the surface of the ground, advanced 
up to the fence itself, and crouched behind it. This brought 
them considerably in advance of the balance of their line. 
Colonel Work, of the First Texas, describes just such a move- 
ment as this by his regiment. Colonel Ruff, of the Eighteenth 
Georgia, also mentions other facts which, considered by them- 
selves, would seem to make it certain that he was on the left 
(our right) of the rebel line. Among other facts that seem to 
connect his experiences with ours, he mentions some that 
seem to refer clearly to the Second Massachusetts. If it was 
not that both of these officers make other statements hard, if 



•Ji')[ IIISTOI!'! Ol Till-: 

not impossible, to reconcile with conditions as we knew them 
to have been, there could be little doubt of their's being among 
the regiments in our front. 

There are some facts, also, which, if given due weight, 
apfiear to favor the belief that Col(|uil"s brigade was the one 
of interest in this connection. Comrade Bresnahan, among 
others, favors this theory. He has given no little attention 
to the subject, being materially aided by visits to the battle- 
tield, in recent years. His conclusions are, therefore, not to 
be light Iv regarded. The chief difficulty in the way of the 
writer's acceptance of this conclusion is fountl in the positive 
statements of Cokpiit himself, in his otficial report. He states 
definitely that all of his regiments advanced through the corn- 
field, to the fence on its opposite side. More than this, he says 
they liad passed through the cornfield and formed along the fence 
on the farther side (the side which would be next to us), before 
tJic L'h'ioii force (with which they then had a a se\ere contest) 
came on to tJic field, lioth of these statements represent the 
facts exactly in reverse of what we know they were with us. 

It has often been remarked that large allowances must be 
made fo'r the statements of lirigade commanders, in their offi- 
cial reports. A distinguished student and author of war his- 
tory has said. '"Brigade commanders were generally along 
with some one of their regiments, or back somewhere ; so that 
they really saw very little of the movements of their brigade. 
After the battle, they went on and related the erroneous im- 
pressions that they h.-id gained from others, arranging things 
in \yhatever way they thought might be most to their own 
credit." After our experience with Gordon, the men of the 
Twenty-seventh can certainly appreciate this way of putting 
it. But it is hard to believe that General Colciuit could be in 
error as to two such material facts. Xo reports of regimental 
commanders in Colquit's brigade are on record. This com- 
jilicates the matter ver}- much of determining anything from 
the reports alone. Tliree out of li\e of Colquit's regimental 
commanders were killed, and the other two were seriously 
wounded, in the battle. If any reports were made by who- 
ever succeeded to the command, they are not on file. This 
brigade consisted of the Thirteenth Alabama, and Sixth. 
Twenty-Third, Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Georgia.* 



'^- Rebellion Records, Series 1, \'()1. .\l.\, I'art One. 



CHAPTER XX. 



MARYLAND I IK HITS. 

Our last nitrlit on tlic ficTd of .\rtietain was spent along 
the west side of the pike, soutii of D. R. Miller's barn. I"ron\ 
there we inarched, on the morninij of the I9th. Angling 
across the pike, we entered the novv historic cornfield, thence 
choosing a course about midway between the Dunker church 
and the east woods, we kept about that distance from the 
pike until near Sharpsburg. From the \illage we wound our 
way over the hills to the crossing of the Antietam, now for- 
ever to be known as ''Bui aside's l^ridge.'" 

^Ve had thus traversed the ground where most of the 
bloodiest fighting had been done. All the wounded had, of 
course, been removed, and the Union dead had been buried. 
But the rebel dead, not carried away by friends, still lay 
where they had fallen. What a revelation of human nature, 
and what a chapter in human histor\',the sights of that morn- 
ing afforded! Alas! that such a dreadful thing as war should 
be necessary among men ! 

No one who passed over this battlelield, to any extent, 
needs any other evidence to con\ince him that Gen. Lee did 
not scruple himself to do what he urged should be the policy 
and rule of all rebel officers, which was that their losses in 
battle shoulil be systematically minimized and falsified. He 
repotred his loss in killed in this battle, and in all the other 
battles and skirmishes connected with the invasion of Mary- 
land, at less than seventeen hundred. No member of the 
Twenty-seventh will ever believe that we did not see more 
than that number of misguided unfortunates lying stone dead, 
and deserted by all save their foes, on that line of march alone, 
while the battlefield began nearly a mile above where we 
started, and extended an average of a half a mile on either 
side of tlie route we traveled. From 1). R. Miller's to near 
Sharpsburg the ground, in most places, lay about as thick 



'2Cj{j msioHN oi- riiK 

with dead bodies as slieaves do in a liarvest-titld before tliev 
are gathered and shocked. In many places it would be but 
^li<J;ht exaggeration to say tliey laid in henps and windrow;-. 

Before starting on the march we had seen the shocking 
evidences of slaughter along the s-tout post-and-rail fence bor- 
dering the pike, above the Dunker church. It had the appear- 
ance of a strong line of men having taken position there and 
being killed to a man. This was not the case, but several 
lines had been there, each losing some, until there was 
scarcely room for another bodv to lie on the ground. Per- 
haps along the two or more lanes extending east ward from 
the pike, particularly along the one since known as '" Bloody 
Lane," the fatality had been greater than elsewhere. There 
is a very realistic picture extant of Blrodv Lane as it wa> at 
the close of the battle. It mav be a photograph, taken at the 
time. The ground is literally covered with dead everywhere, 
and in many places thev are Iving upon and across each other. 
The scene is as we remember it. We saw also one dead rebel 
hanging across a fence, and one hanging in the forks of a 
tree. The one had been shot while in the act of climbing the 
fence, and the other while perched in the tree as a sharpshooter. 

Those who had been killed dead while the battle was in 
progress were now swollen ami bhickened bevond all recogni- 
tion. It recjuired stout ner\is to be able to look at them. But 
quite a large proportion had probablv lived for a time after 
being shot, some of them until a period now somewhat recent. 
v^ome faces had the freshness, and even the peacefulness. of 
sleep. 

The writer has never forgotten, and never can forget, 
one such face, into which he looked long and thoughtfully. It 
was that of a mere boy, not over si.xteen or seventeen years 
old. He had light hair and blue eyes, with high forehead and 
refined, classical features. The purest strain of our Anglo- 
Saxon blood was in his veins and with it were loftv ambitions 
and a dauntless courage. Needless was it for the wound, which 
had been mortal, to testify that it had been received while his 
face was to the front. His uniform was of fine English broad- 
cloth, and other things about him suggested that some South- 
ern home of wealth, culture and refinement had been robbed 
of its idol, and that some proud, aristocratic mother had paid 
the extreme penalty of disloyal and sinful instruction about 
sla\ erv and secession. 



TWKNTV-SEVKN I 11 INDIANA. I?()7 

Our destination to-day was the vicinity of Harpers Ferry. 
We proved rapidly down Pleasant X'alley and at the lirst gap 
north of the Potomac river, turned and climbed to the top of 
the Blue Ridge. From there we followed the backbone of the 
ridge to where it is cut in two by the river. This elevated 
point is known as Maryhuul I lights. It overlooks Harpers 
Ferry and all the surrounding region, being one of the highest 
peaks of the .Appalachian range. An artist might fill a note 
book by a visit to this interesting place. 

While advancing along the crest of the mountain the 
Twenty-seventh, being in the lead, had skirmishers in front. 
We were the tirst Union troops to reach Maryland Hights 
after its stupid abandonment by those who, a day or two later, 
disgracefull\- surrendered at Harpers Ferry. There had been 
some fighting on tiie mountain before its evacuation. W^e 
found tlie rebel dead still unburied. The strip of level land on 
the top of the mountain is ^o narrow that a small force could 
defend it aga nst any number of men that might assail it. In 
many places not more than fifty men could stand abreast in 
line. There was no sign of live enemies, however. The sun 
shone benignantly and the signal service men came and waved 
their flags in the clear air, announcing that the stars and 
stripes again floated over the whole of Maryland. Towards 
evening we descended the mountain part way, on the eastern 
or Pleasant Valley side, to find enough level ground for a 
camp. 

For a day or two it fell to a part of the Twenty-se\ enth 
to picket the river opposite Harpers Ferry. It was while en- 
gaged in this duty that the immense sacrifice of life occurred, 
before mentioned, — the boiling of clothes, with their living 
occupants, in the broken kettle. 

The camp of the Twenty-seventh was soon transferred to 
the western slope of the mountain, where it was established 
in a more j^ermanent form. For this purpose we occupied the 
last cleared land, and the last level enough for a camp, high 
up the western ascent, but near the river. 

Somehow (uir great loss at Antietam did not come over 
us fully, until we came to pitch tents in regular order at this 
place. For this purpose the whole regiment was formed, 
temporarily as it proved, into four small companiec. The 
gaps in our ranks were desperate. Companies A, C, D, I" 
and H had no commissioiuil officers present for duty. In sev- 



•2C)S 



IIISIOKV OF. Til K 



cral companies only two or three non-coininissioned officers' 
were present. A long list — really a sliockin<r. lieart-rendinjr list 
— of our manliest and most companionable comrades, some of 
tliem our greatest favorites, both of ofl^icers and men, were 
gone from us. For manv days, soldiers tliougli we were, we 
were almost inconsolable. 

Our quartermastser sergeant notes in his di.irv that the 
regiment was in the worst plight at thi> time for clothing 
and shoes of any in its history. This conlirms what has 
already been said about our condition previous to the battle of 
Antietam. Ours was but a fair sam[ile of others. The Con- 
federates were commonly a hard looking lot with respect to 
clothing, but we would have driven great b irgains bv even 
exchanges witii them at this period. After a few davs fresh 
supplies began to arrive and, though thev came very slowlv and 
in small (juantities. w'e were eventuall}' put in good condition 
again. 

A large detail from our brigade, in command of Lieut. - 
Col. Morrison, was assigned the work of chopping the timl)er 
off of tiie west side of the mountain. This was done witii a 
view of making it more defensible. In the Twenty-se\ enth 
the same men were sent from dav to dav. It was tiie writer's 
good fortune to be one of this detail. It was most agreeable, 
cheerful work, a delightful change from the tedious round of 
camp life. 

A line of axmen was formed at the first timber line above 
tiie camp and worked steadily upward, felling the trees down- 
ward. Most of the timber was chestnut, or chestnut oa'k. 
and. with a sharp axe, chopped beautifully. The work went 
on without interruption until i he summit was reached. Later 
a detail was made to set fire to this fallen timber. It was 
hoped that when the leaves had diied, the whole of it would 
l)urn. This proved a mistake. The jnen had a free, romantic 
plav-spel! one evening, in illuminating the mountain side, but 
after the leaves and twigs were consumed tlu blackenetl 
trunks and limbs mostly remained. 

The ranks of the regiment gradually tilled up while we 
were at Maryland Heights. Those who liad been away sick 
or wounded, or on details of various kinds, returned. Those 
who had been captured at Winciiester also reached us here, 
after their long sojourn inside the inhuman Confederacy. The 
boys in camp cheered lustily, and with full hearts, at sight 



r \\ !•: N 1"^' - s K \' 1-: n r 1 1 i m > i a n a . 



L'G1> 



of tlicni. I'lieir identity was rcvcaletl in acKancc, as they 
approached, by the presence amonj^ them of our big soldier, 
then a lietenant, Win IJuskirk. Captain Davis and Dr. Wool- 
len were also of the number. The latter had unselfishly sur- 
rendered himself, or rcinaintd dutifulJv at his post, to be cap- 
tured, with the sick ami wounded in his care, at Culpeper 
Court House. Lieut. \'aii IJuskirk was always a favorite in 
the re^^iment, as indeed were also Captain Davis, Dr. Wool- 
len and most others of these returninj^ captives, regardless of 
rank. 




Capt. Joseph Halslkv 
Company II. 



Capt. J. M. IIafkiu.i;. 
Company K. 



As offsetting these gains in part, the Twenty-seventh also 
suffered a small loss at this time. An order was issued by the 
War Department permitting men in the Volunteer service to 
be transferred to the Regular service, if they ilesired it, for the 
unexpired periods of their enlistment. It was done mostly as 
a favor to the officers in the Regulars. Bv tilling up their 
commands thev would be entitled to additional promotion. 
On the protest of the X'olunteer ofllcers, the order was soon 
countermanded, but not before the Twenty-seventh had lost 
a few good men, as well as some who, perhaps, were a gooil 
riddance. Most of them left us because they preferretl another 



270 Hisrouv oi- riiK 

arm of the service. Of all who went, onlv one or two chose 
infantrv, and they transferred for other special reasons. 

Lovalty to the Twenty-seventh, whose record was now 
establislied, alone restrained the writer from transferring to 
the artillery. Even a sligiit experience in the army, he has 
always held Hrmly. will convince anv one that the artillery 
is by far the preferabl arm of the service, particularly for an 
enlisted man. The artiller} man does not march anything like 
as much as others, carries no 1 iad when he is re(|uired to 
march, does little guard duty, and no picket duty, is allowed 
liberal bedding, has more freedom in his individual conduct, 
reaps a larger harvest of glory, and, as statistics show, stands 
less average risk of getting hurt. Still, the writer will con- 
congratulate himself and his posterity to the latest genera- 
tion, that he remained with the peerless men of the Twenty- 
seventh. 

While we were on the slopes of Mary'and Heights Presi- 
<lent Lincoln made a visit to the armv. Xo reviews were 
held, as was the case later, but the President rode around 
among the camps extensively. He was brought up to the 
camp of our brigade, though, while the Twenty-seventh had 
orders to form in line and be ready to receive him, he was 
not brought to our camp. ^\ e were permitted onlv to see the 
company of horsemen at a distance. 

Our camp was a little ofl' of the main road, it is true, but 
Ave have always believed that an intentional slight was put 
upon us by our brigade commander or some of his staff. The 
President had come to the army at the earnest solicitation of 
high officers, that the sight of him might encourage and 
enspirit the men, but the Twentv-seventh might serve without 
such help. It had stood like a wall of adamant in the recent 
battle, while more than half of its number present had gone 
down Ijefore the rain of lead and iron of its adversaries. It 
needed a little snubbing — at least so thought Gordon and his 
crowd. 

We were likewise disappointed in not receiving a call 
from our own Governor, Morton, who also visited the Army 
of the Potomac after the battle of Antietam. There was no 
juggerly about this, however. The Governor found his time 
cut short by unforeseen exigencies and sent his Adjutant-Gen- 
eral to the Twenty-seventh in his stead, to bear to the officers 
and men his cordial salutations and heart-felt regrets. As 



T\\KNT\ -SKX'KNTII INDIANA. 271 

tlic shadow of PetcM", in Apostolic times, tall iii}^ upon the sick 
and crippled, proved a hel[) and blessing to them, so the 
thoughts and words of Iniliana's war Governor, even at second 
liand, caused the burtlens to rest lighter upon iier soldiers in 
the field. 

We also had other visitors from Intliana while here, in 
the person of ofHcers' wives and the relatives and friends of 
dillerent members of the regiment. Some had coine on sad 
missions, connected with the killed and woumled in the late 
battle. Some had taken advantage of our temporary inactivity 
and proximity to railroads to have a brief visit with those near 
and dear. 

It was cheering to all, e\en to utter strangers, to have 
visitors come froni the bless. d Hoosier state. It was a verit- 
able Godsend to a whole regiment, at any time, to see a 
refined, loyal lady in camp. In the next war. when men have 
to be so long away from friends and the associations of home, 
ladies who visit the camps must not be quite so retiring and 
exclusive. A little passing around among the men, a friendly 
nod or cheerful greeting, e\ en to a strange soldier-bov, cannot 
harm a lady and may do the sore-hearted boy a world of good. 
This w ill still be true even though the soldier-boy should not 
appear to be any too neat in his personal habits or should seem 
to have forgotten or laid aside some of the gentility taught 
him by his far-away, faithful mother. 

The Twenty seventh again exchanged arms while in this 
camp. All the companies received the same kind, namely, 
Springfield rides. These were the first and only guns we 
ever had of American make. We carried them, many of us 
the identical ones received here, to the end of our service. 
They had the merit of being light, shapely and well balanced 
for handling; a good gun — for a time of peace. l/niformlv 
hard, close shooters, thev were not. 

Meanwhile, September had given place to October, and 
it in turn, was almost gone. The mellow, golden haze that 
had rested over field, forest and stream and had imparted a 
dreamy, fairyland halo to the wide, enchanting landscape, 
always visible from our camp, was giving place more and 
more to the cheerless, leaden grav. The winds, which at the 
tirst were fresh and bracing, were becoming cutting and hard 
to bear. After a much longer delay than anv one had antici- 
pated, those of us engaged on the mountain saw the long lino 



HIsrOllV OK THE 



of infantry, artillery and wagons winding from different 
points down to the pontoon bridge at Berlin, four miles below 
Harpers Ferry, thence disappearing from \ iew in the defiles 
on the \'irginia side. Most of the army had again invaded 
the Old Dominion. What purpose or thought it was which 
delayed our corps, and finally sent us in the opposite direction, 
to remain for a time, belongs to tiie things not yet revealed. 




Fii:sT-I.ii;r 1 . W. W. Dokghkhtv. 

(RfUMnu-iital Adjutant.) 



II 



CHAPTER XXI. 



DAM NUMBER FOTR AND F.MRFAX STATION. 

October 2Uth, at seven i'. m., we left our lofty camp on 
the side of Maryland Hights. Contrary to all previous expec- 
tations pur course lay up the river, instead of down or across 
it. ^^'lly, after so many weeks of delay, we should now start 
in the evening and march all night, is one of the mysteries 
that must forever shroud the plans, or lack of them, of those 
days. It could not have been because haste was necessarv. 
and if secrecy was intended it lacked a great deal of being 
secured. Most of the way, the road we travelled follows the 
Potomac river, and upon the opposite side were the enemy's 
scouts. We never marched with more hubbub, and much 
of the route was ablaze with bright fires. 

Some of the men in the newer regiments had not vet 
learned that, if, when they found themselves getting tired, 
sleepy or foot-sore, they stopped, built a rou.=.ing fire and took 
things easy, anybody would be unfeeling enough to find fault 
about it. They learned it with a vengance that night. Poor 
Gordon I this was the last time we ever marched under his 
command, and it mollifies us not a little to recall that he 
really became patronizing towards us, w'hile heaping his 
anathamas upon these simple, unsuspecting stragglers from the 
new regiments. How he spurred his horse in among and 
upon them, as they sat, or laid, around their comfortable fires, 
how inconsiderate and even rude he was, as he awakened them 
out of their restful sleep, and what a night he had of it in all 
respects, and what a night he made of it for them, as he 
hustled them around and drove them along, were matters of 
amiisement to us for a long time. 

We reached the mouth of the Antietam near morning. 
Resting there for awhile, it developed that we were destined, 
for an indefinite period, to guard the upper Potomac. Our 
brigade line was to extend from above Williamsport to a jioint 

18 



274 



insTORv or the 



below Sharpsburg. The headquarters of the Twenty-seventh 
were to beat Dam Number Four, but some of the companies 
were to be stationed at other points. All went to their posts 
during the day. 

Dam Number Four was oneof the feedersof the canal, which 
follows the river on the Maryland side, and it was important 
that it should not be molested. If we relieved other troops we 
did not see them. The Twelfth Indiana infantry had occu- 
pied the same ground for a camp the previous winter that we 
occupied now. There were no signs of its recent occupancv. 




Cait. J. C. Williams, Co. C. Lii:rr. R. S. Lot ciikkv, Co. C 



\\'hen we arrived at Dam Number Four a rebel picket 
post was maintained on the opposite side of the river. \Ve 
often saw their relief as it passed around and the picket was 
sometimes in sight also. It was soon learned by our authorities 
that the rebel force consisted of a single company of cavalry. 
There were many loyal people in that part of \'irginia and 
the information coming tiirough tliem was reliable. After 
a few days, therefore, it was decided to send a force over 
at night with a view of capturing the rebel company. Wisely 



II 



T\VENTV-SE\-ENTH INDIANA. 1^(0 

manaj^ed and witli no mishap, the scheme looked feasible, 
and was worthy of a trial. 

One record says "one hundred picked men" were detailed 
for this expedition ; another, that Companies C, E, G and K 
went. Neither record states whether the men were selected 
because of their good qualities, or because, if lost, they would 
not be greatly missed. iJul, whether for one reason or the 
other, the writer was of the number. 

Two mistakes were made before starting. For one thing, 
the men should have been given the briefest outline as to the 
situation. Ordinarily, of course, it is absurd for soldiers to 
expect explanations con-erning what they are ordered to do. 
Any soldier, wortliv of the name, knows that it is his business 
to obey, and ask no questions. This case, however, was almost 
of the nature of a special service. A mere handful of men 
were to cross a wide river, strange to them, operate inside of 
the enemy's lines, where lie was supposed to be in large num- 
bers", and in a region with which they were not acquainted, — 
all of this in the dark. A very few words would have relieved 
them of some harrassing misgivings. What was known as to 
the number of the enemy, a hint as to the plans for their cap- 
ture, the facts as to the fords or shallow places in the river, 
with suggestions as to what was to be done in case of unfor- 
seen exingencies, would not have been improper, but helpful. 
These points all came out afterwards, and the men s iw how 
groundless had been some of their — well, uneasiness. 

For another thing, the start from camp should not have 
been made until conditions were ripe for crossing the ri\er 
promptly, on arrival at the proper j:)iace. As it was, the 
expedition started soon after dark, marched some distance 
below, where the boats were in readiness, then waited two 
hours, or more, for the moon to rise, as it was said. Of course 
there was not sufticient room for 100 men in the small store, or 
canal-supply house, at that point. Equally, of course, it was 
not reasonable that because all could not go in and enjoy the 
fire, a few persons, especially the commissioned otlicers. might 
not do so. But staple groceries and provisions, ropes, oakum. 
rosin and horse feed, — such legitimate articles as canal boat- 
men are supposed to need — were not the sum-total of the 
merchandise kept in that house. Some of us had been there 
before ! Do you see ? 

No matter what men do themselves, or are willing others 



270 insTOKV OF THE 

should do, under some circumstances, when they go into a 
close place, where life or liberty are at stake, they demand 
leaders with unmuddled brains. The mere fact that there is 
a known possibility of their brains being muddled has a bad 
influence. During this long, tedious delay, various mis- 
chievous and tormenting rumors or suspicions, of other kinds,^ 
became current among us. What if there was a mistake about 
the number or the enemy ? What if more should chance to 
arrive subsequent to our latest information.'' What if our 
commander should be misinformed or misled in other direc- 
tions.'' Or, what was more plausible, as well as more dread- 
ful, what if some one on this side of the river, seeing so many 
men under arms and the boats moored to the shore, should 
surmise our destination, and, by some preconcerted signal, 
should warn those on the other side.? We were lying along 
the canal, with no pretense of concealment. Canal-boats were 
passing every few- minutes. On them, and straggling along 
after them, were many men and boys whose sympathies were 
unknown to us. That some of them might be rebel scouts, on 
the look out for just such matters, w'as not a violent presump- 
tion. Under sucli conditions, what a death-trap could be set 
for us? All these things would have been out of the question, 
with a later start from camp. 

At length, however, we were ferried over, or rather, fer- 
ried ourselves over, a few at a time, to the opposite shore. 
The men to man the boats were furnished from our own num- 
ber. All proper precautions were taken to have the work 
done as silently- as possible. Here as elsewhere. Col. Col- 
grove set an example of unflinching courage. He went over 
in one of the first boats, if not the very first, to cross. 

With a few men slightly in advance, in charge of officers 
and guided by a loyal citizen, we moved briskly but with the 
utmost watchfulness. Part of the way was through the woods. 
In the open fields we carried our guns at a trail arms to prevent 
the glinting of the bright barrels in the moonlight. All went 
well until we were almost ready to flush the quarry. The 
rebel company was quartered in a barn, a short distance back 
from the river. We were approaching it from the rear. In 
a moment more we would have been in position to cut ofV all 
escape. But near the barn was a high rail fence. As we 
were climbing over this, one of our men accidentally dis- 
charged his gun. Instantly we heard the faint notes of a 



TWEXTV-SEVHNTH INDIANA. l'77 

bu<rle iiiul. almost immediately, the rebels crallopecl, with the 
speed of the wind, around our left llank. It was truly mar- 
velous how quickly they responded to " Boots and Saddles,'' 
and were away. Hurrying on. we were barely in time to 
intercept two of their number, who had been on duty along 
the river, and capture them, with their horses and equip- 
ments. These were the onlv trophies of the foray. 

Our man had, unfortunately, shot himself through the 
hand, which was amputated at the wrist. VVe all felt much 
sympathy for him in his loss. lie had been a teamster most 
of the time previous to this, so his awkwardness was the more 
excusable. We returned to camp by the same way we had 
come without further incidents of note. 

The month or more we remained at Dam Number 
Four after this was rather monotonous. Picket duty was 
again so heavy as to leave no time for much else. The return 
of wounded and sick continued, so our companies grew to 
something of their normal, tield-service proportions. In con- 
sequence of this, as well as to fill the vacancies of Cedar 
Mountain and Antietam, a large number of promotions were 
made. Most of these promotions had been recommendeci while 
we were at Maryland Mights. The order of the companies in 
the line was also changed. It all amounted almost to a reor- 
ganization of the regiment. 

In the promotions of company otticers the men were not 
consulted, or in any way given a voice, as had been the rule 
heretofore. More than this, several officers were promoted and 
transferred to other companies with which they had not served 
up to this time. Most experienced soldiers will probablv 
agree that the first innovation was for the best. If there is 
any place where popular sovereignty fails it is in choosing 
army otiicers. In elections elsewhere the one most unlit and 
undeserving is cb.osen as often as the other one, and even 
more ; when it comes to army service, the talkative, seductive, 
vote-getter, is as apt to turn out a blumlerer. overbearing or 
cowardly as otherwise. 

In transferring an officer and placing him over men of 
another companv there is more liability of injustice. It wa- 
frequently done with us later. It was rather a curious incon- 
sistency to be thrust upon men who had come into the army 
votuntarilv, to contend to the very death, solely to perpetuate 
a republican form of government. It was presuming that men 



278 HISTOKV OK THE 

who appreciated self government enough to fight and die for 
it, were not themselves capable of self government. But the 
worst feature of such a rule was that it discouraged the men 
of a company in their hope of promotion, through faithful, 
capable service. As far as the writer knows, however, those 
transferred at this time, as well as those promoted in their own 
pompanies, were wholly acceptable to the men, after a fair 
trial, if not at first. 

General Gordon left us on sick leave at this time. 
Whether so intended from the first or not, he never returned 
to command the brigade. The Apostle Paul's "Thorn in 
the flesh "' was never removed. In this we were more favored 
than was he, for our's was. It is impossible for any one 
not connected with the Twenty-seventh to understand how 
much more pleasant and satisfactory to ourselves our service 
was from this on. To any member of the Twenty- seventh the 
memory of General Gordon is a whole sermon on the text 
*' One sinner destroyeth much good."' For some time Colonel 
Colgrove commanded the brigade and Major Birge, in the 
absence of Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison, commanded the 
regiment. 

Most of us made repeated visits to the Antietam battle- 
field at this time. Captain Davis and others entertained those 
who could attend with a number of informal lectures, or talk>;. 
on prison life in Dixie. Lectures of that nature were not as 
popular, however, then as they are now. more than tiiirty 
years after the war. 

The weather grew colder. Several snows fell, and it was 
common to have ice and sleet. Anticipating orders to move, 
we were loth to spend much labor in preparing winter quar- 
ters, but one device after another was resorted to, that we 
might have fire in our tents, and additions and improvements 
were made to what had been done before, until all the men 
were quite comfortably housed. Then orders came to go. 

On December 10th, a cold, raw morning, with the 
roads frozen hard and glassy with ice, we marched southward. 
At Sharpsburg and the mouth of the .\ntietam, we found the 
other regiments of the brigade. We had not seen them for 
ten weeks, and it would be difficult to make some people 
understand what a pleasure it was to all of us to be thus 
reunited. 

As one regiment approached another a regular uproar 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 279 

was started. The air was laden with shouts like these : " Hello, 
Third Wisconsin," " Hello, Hundred and Seventh,"' " Hello, 
Second,'' " Hello, Thirteenth!" "Hello! Hello! Hello!"' 
And the answering shouts were, " Hello, Twenty-seventh," 
" Hello, Twenty seventh," " Hello, Twenty-seventh ! " inter- 
mingled on both sides with cheers, exclamations and laughter. 

Journeying on, we camped the first night near by "John 
Brown's school house," so called because there the grizzled old 
hater of slavery had concealed the arms, preparatory to the 
out break at Harper's Ferry^ A iine rail fence and a fair- 
sized straw stack, both in close proximity to where the Twen- 
ty-seventh lialted, disappeared with something more than 
usual celerit}'. Most of us gave some attention to the school 
house, either that evening or the next morning. As the 
writer remembers it, it was a small, rudely built, one- oom 
house of round logs, which few would take to be other than 
a negro's cabin. 

An hour's march the next morning brought us to Sandy 
Hook. Crossing the Potomac into Harper's Ferry, then the 
Shenandoah at its mouth, we passed down the Potomac on 
the south side, under the towering cliffs of Loudon Hights. 
Men, even a solid column of them, marching amidst such 
mighty natural upheavals, seemed weak and puny creatures. 
W'e soon turned away from the river, in to the rough, hill- 
country of Loudon countv. Virginia, camping for the night 
about eight miles out. 

That night occurred one of those freakish things that 
seemed to be peculiar to army life. One of ' Lige Jenkin's 
mules kicked Billy Harris' big Newfoundland dog over a 
stone fence, twenty feet or more, landing him on his back, in 
the middle of the supper table of the quartermaster's mess. 
This mule, as may be imagined, had a reputation to sustain as 
a kicker and, of course, did it superbly. Dear knows how 
long it had been playing innocent and waiting for just that 
kind of a chance at the dog. It all seemed more ludicrous and 
laughable than can now be set forth in words. Comrade 
Crose, blessings on his kindly heart, used to dwell upon the 
odd situation with much enjoyment. The members of the 
mess had reason to congratulate themselves that it did not 
occur until after they had finished their supper. They had 
barely given place to the old darkey cook. What was his 
surprise and consternation, as he sat quietly munching his 



280 IIISTOKV OF THE 

evening meal, to have the dog hmd where it ditl. The rest of 
lis tliought the fiiiartermaster's mess had no business with 
such a useless article as a table, anyway. 

The third day, the Twenty-seventh waited before start 
ing, until almost noon, for the brigade wagon-train to come 
up. With it came our old friends of the Twenty-ninth Penn- 
svlvania, bringing up the rear. We had only seen them 
occasionally since their transfer fiom our brigade, shortly 
after the \\''inchester retreat. They cheered and we cheered, 
and all were happy. For a short time they were so related to 
our b igade again that their paternal old colonel. Murphy, was 
in Qommand of it. 

.Vfter tiie arrival of the train and its escort, we at once 
moved on. Our regiment served as rear guard. The route 
was through Hillsborough, around which there was said to be 
a settlement of C^uakers, and on to within four miles of Lees- 
burg. It was in this general region of country that Mosby. 
the guerrilla chief, operated so long. To-day a party of his 
men dashed into the train, barely ahead of the Twenty-sev- 
enth, captured a team and wagon belonging to a sutler, and 
w'ere making off w'ith it. But Colonel Colgrove instantly 
mastered a few cavalrymen who happened to be with the col- 
umn, and, putting himself at their head, galloped in pursuit, 
and had the wagon back again in no time. The next day 
another regiment was rear guard, and two wagons were taken 
and not recovered. Late at night we came up with the 
brigade on the Little River Pike, east of Aldie. The bright 
rail fires, circling around on the hills and illuminating the 
countrv, were pleasant to look upon. The fumes of boiling 
coffee tilling the air, caused our empty stomachs to cry loudly 
for food. The rear guard usually comes in late, more tired 
and hungry than commoti. 

The fourth day we marched over familiar ground to Fair- 
fax Court House, and the fifth, only live miles or less, to 
Fairfax Station. Our entire corps w'as here. Tiie other 
brigades had probably come from the upper Potomac by 
slightly diflerent routes, as we had seen no signs of them on 
the way. It was now clear that our destination was the front, 
down on the Rappahannock. We were all glad of it, though 
we were not destined to arrive there as soon as present appear- 
ances indicated. Xo command having the right spirit is 



282 IlISTOKV OK THE 

content to spend its time idling in the rear, even under the 
guise of duty. 

Tiie same day we had started from Dam Number Four, 
our comrades at the front had dutifully moved out to assail the 
impregnable positions of theenemv about Fredericksburg. As 
we had journeyed laboiiously along, making our tiresome 
marches, they had been fighting a hopeless, but heroic, bat- 
tle. It was getting to be an old story, sickening its repeti- 
tion, but we were forced to hear it once more : Our side had 
lost ! Tills explained our present dilatoriness. 

On the 15th, weonly marched five miles. On the iGth. we 
marched ten miles, and camped in the afternoon, in a clean 
oak grove, on the bank of the Ocoquan. (3n the 17th, orders 
were still more vascillating. We packed up, ready to go. 
then waited awhile. Then we marched a mile, halted sud- 
denly, on the side of the road, waited still longer, and finally 
went into camp, where we were. On the 18th, we matched 
back to Fairfax Station, and camped near the railroad, on the 
same ground we had occupied a few nights previously. Here 
we remained quietly, industriously doing nothing, until the 
25th. That day we moved camp a quarter of a mile south, 
near the road. 

This was a pretty site for a camp, on a gently sloping hill- 
side, with a clean running brook between the officers* quarters 
and those of the men. We at once built cabins here, covering 
them with our shelter tents. The great abundance of smooth, 
straight, pine sapplings adjoining camp, tempted us to do 
this, besides the nights were too cold and long to be without 
fire. 

If the writer has ever done a mechanical job more to his 
credit than was the cabin he built there, with a very dull axe, 
no other tool of any kind, he is not aware of it. It really 
attracted so much attention outside that commissioned officers 
of other regiments came and courteously asked the privlege 
of looking into it. Tom Acton, Ed. Spurgeon, Bill Green, 
William Sandifer and William Treadway, the familiar names 
of these last two are not given here because both died nobly 
for the flag. later on, and both sleep in " Unknown " graves, 
these five stalwart, native-born Hoosiers, each one the very 
embodiment of true comradeship, cut the necessary logs and 
carried them to the proper place. Like the Irish hod-carrier 
said of himself, there was nothing for them to do. they only cut 



TWK.VTV-SKVKNTII INDIANA. 283 

and carried the logs, and there was anotlu-r man there to do 
the work ! 

Those smooth, straii^lit pine lo<rs, ahnost exactly the 
same size at both ends, were ideal in their fitness for the pur- 
pose. And, how true and snugly fitted those corners were 
carried up, how square all of the ends of the logs were, anel 
how evenly they projected ; how convenient and cozy the 
interior arrangement was, with bunks on the side, a fire place 
in the end that would draw a cat up the chimney, a mantel- 
siielf above it, to hold our cups and plates, the whole as genial 
and inviting as any marble front grate, aglow with burning 
Anthracite. Acton " found" boards for the door and bunks, 
and carried them on his back someth.ing less than five miles, 
not much less either. 

Comforts and joys in this world are ^vholly relative. No 
man or family ever felt better satisfied or happier, on moving 
into a mansion on the avenue, or felt more gratefully its 
warmth and shelter, than did we happy-go-lucky soldiers in 
our occupancy of th's soldiers' cantonment. Others of the 
Twenty-seventh had similar ones and doubtless felt similarly 
about them. 

It has been the studied effort all along to keep this narra- 
tive above the range of one humble, individual experience. 
Perchance these few sentences will be indulged, in part as the 
expression of a deathless appreciation felt by the writer for the 
unselfish, devoted friendship of these unpretentious but 
chivalric boys; but more, because this example will serve to 
illustrate and impress what was true in so many scoies of 
instances in the Twenty-seventh, and in ^o many luindreds 
and thousands of instances in the army. Nothing could be 
truer to facts than the sentence now so familiar to most soldiers 
of the war for the Union : *' Fraternity indeed, if not in 
word, marked everywhere the true soldier." 

The Army of the Potomac still has the name, in some 
([uarters, as it had during the war, of always having had 
" soft bread."' We had it a part of the time while here, sure 
enough. Being less than twenty miles from Washing on, 
with no other use for the railroad, it was probably easier to 
supply us with bread than hardtack. Bread seemed nice for 
a change now and then, but, the quality of both being equal, 
any soldier with experience in the field, will choose hardtack 
in preference, as a regular ration. 



f?84 HISTOIJV OF THE 

December 28th, in consequence of a rebel cavalry raid. 
we were sent down to the Ocoquan river again. We were 
ordered to take no bag2:age with us except our blankets. 
This was to prepare us for swift ino\einents. We remained 
on a piece of bottom land, along the Ocoquan, over night. It 
was one of those still, clear winter nights, when the firmament 
is abhize with stars and the cold bites noses and ears keenly. 
If the rails we burned, in our efforts to keep from freezing, 
have ever been paid for, no wonder the government still has 
a war debt hanging over it. We sat all night bv huge bon- 
fires and, while one side was roasting, the other was cold. In 
the morning, the cheerful intelligence reached us that, in our 
absence, the enemy had captu'ed our camp and destroyed 
everything in it. The report proved untrue, though there was 
no reason why it might not have been, only that the enemy 
had not taken it into his head to do such a thing. He had 
ridden near our camp, and it was entirely at his mercv.* 









- ¥■ 



M.\j. Thkodoke F. Coi.ghoxe. Q. M. SEiuiE.wr Cross. 

For the benefit of those eminent commanders who, in 
the future, will doubtless consult these pages (?) for informa- 
tion and suggestions concerning the conduct of great military 
operations, it may be said that, except to guard places or 



* The leader of this rebel raid was Gen. Fitzhugh Lee. Such are 
the changes that come about in this world, that the writer has been proud 
to have his only son serve recently in Glmi. Lee's command, in freeing 
Luha. 



TWEXTY-SEVKNTH INDIANA. 2S5 

property, there is no sort of use to be made of infantry in pre- 
venting or restraining a cavalry raid. To send infantry out 
into an open country to head off a column of cavalry, or with 
some view of stopping it, as was so often done in the late 
war. is bald nonsense. It is every bit as silly as to send a foot- 
man at any other time to stop, or catch, a man on horseback. 
What could we do as against a cavalry raid, down on the Oco- 
(|uan.' There was no special ford there to guard, no particu- 
lar road, no narrow pass and no valuable property. A mounted 
enemy could ride anywhere within a half mile of us, with 
impunitv, and taunt us with our helplessness. 

The last thing to receive notice here was a review bv 
General Williams. What it was that stirred " Old Pap'' up 
to have a review, it is impossible to conjecture. It was his 
tirst and last attempt. The review was held in a field a mile 
or so up towards Fairfax Court House, and was a satisfactory 
affair to all concerned, as far as is now known. 

As will be inferred by what has gone before, we were 
not anxious to get away from this camp. Protection against 
bad weather was as good as we could hope for, we had enough 
to eat, the mails came regularly and duty was not burden- 
some. Yet a soldier obeys orders. A good soldier obeys 
with cheerfulness, and so did we, when orders came to go. 

January 19lh, we started again for the front. This move 
was in connection with the celebrated " Mud march," of the 
Army of the Potomac. Unlike the main army, however, 
while the Twelfth Corps got into the mud for a certainty, it 
did not stick fast. As Chaplain Qiiint says, sententiously, 
" The roads were fordable in some places." We reached Staf- 
ford Court House at the end of the fifth day. With the roads 
in tolerable condition, it was a short, easy, two days' march. 

There was one two-day feature about this march, how- 
ever. That was, we made it on two days' rations. Never^ 
before or since, has the writer come so near starving to death. 
Not dreaming but that more would be forthcoming, all of us 
naturally consumed the two days rations with which we 
started, during the time for which they were intended, then 
did almost literally without during the remaining three days. 
No pretense was made of issuing anything to us, and there 
was nothing in the barren and war-scoured country that we 
could get hold of. A railroad now runs near most of the route 
we passed over, and one sees little along it to sustain either 



286 IllS'IOItV OI- THE 

man or beast. Assuredly there was nothing there during this 
trip. Our most successlul, lynx-eyed foragers failed to find 
even as much as a " corn pone" or piece of Southern pie. In 
rain and mud interminable, we labored along and did entirely 
without. Our united, oft-repeated cry of "Crackers, crack- 
ers," in the ears of our kind hearted and faithful, but helpless 
Qi'artermaster, brought us nothing. In the evening of the 
fifth day, we arriv-ed at our destination, and late that night 
rations were issued as usual. 




J. ,S. Stimsox, Co. G. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



STAFFORD COURT HOUSE. 

We now entered upon another stay of three months in the 
same place. The men present will all remember many things 
about it, and if it is said that the time was rather pleasantly 
spent, it will be understood as being in a soldier sense. A 
year before this it would not have been so considered. 

We never tarried in a poorer country. The whole Armv 
of the Potomac, more than 100,000 men, was crowded upon 
the barren, ragged strip of ridges and hollows lying between 
the Potomac and the Rappahannock rivers. Every elevation 
on both sides of the railroad, from Acquia Creek to Falmouth, 
had a camp perched upon it. Our isolation from the outside 
world was also complete. There was no communication with 
the North, except by the Potomac river, and every boat upon 
it, and every rod of its shore, was under rigid military sur- 
veilliance. The arm}- was thus a world to itself. 

Still, many things combined to give us agreeable recollec- 
tions of this period. We were well sheltered (for soldiers), 
well clothed, well fed, well treated, and, if not well paid, we 
were paid something with praiseworthy regularity. We had 
learned that under these conditions, a soldier could and ought 
be contented, if not iiappy. 

And, in addition to these creature comforts, the mails 
came regularly, the daily papers were on sale in camp every 
afternoon, and we were allowed all reasonable latitude in the 
way of visiting other camps, and of entertaining ourstlves. or 
our friends of other regiinents, in our own. In short, the 
higher authorities of the army began here, for the iirst time, 
as it seemed to some of us, to show some decided comprehen- 
sion of the fact that the soldiers were " men of like passions 
with themselves." Need it be said that the result was ciiiickly 
apparent.^ The matter will come up again, but it is certainly 
true in the army as elsewhere, perhaps more true in the volun- 



288 



IIISTOUV OF THE 



teer army than elsewhere, that, if the full measure of service 
is expected from men, first treat them as men. Show some 
consideration for their rit^hts and interests. 




Gen. Geo. B. McClellan. Gen. Joseph Hooker. 

(First Commander Army of the (Commander of Army of Potomac 

Pot(Mnac.) and 20th Corps.) 

Our permanent camp, or cantonment, was one mile west 
of the antiquated, weather-beaten hamlet of Stafford Court 
House. It was pleasantly situated, to be in such a countr>', 
bein^ upon high, solid ground, witli good water and abundance 
of wool near by. The other regiments of the brigade were 
all located in the same vicinity. The camp of the Thirteenth 
New Jersey abbutted against ours on the west, their most direct 
way of getting to and from their camp being through ours. 
The Third NVisconsin and Second Massachusetts occupied 
ground near each otiier. northeast of us. Their locations being 
upon a slightly lower level than ours, gave us a good view of 
their parade ground. We often watched their drills and dress 
parades with much satisfaction. The camp of the One Hun- 
dred and Seventh New York, the remaining regiment of the 
brigade, was somewhat farther away, in a southeasterly 
direction. 

After gi\ing the site selected for a camp a thorough 



TWKNTV-SEVKNTII INDIAXA, 2S0 

policeing, we built winter quarters at once, for the third time 
this winter, and after the same model. Without even waiting 
for the quarters to be completed, we had general inspection. 
The regular routine of camp life, as it should be with soldier-;, 
was also inaugurated at once and uniformly maintained. 
Reasonable stints of drill were observed, about two hours in 
the forenoon and two in the afternoon. The squads and com- 
panies for drill were usually small in the forenoon, as men 
who had been on duty the previous night were exempt from 
drill in the forenoon. The camp guard was light, but a heavy 
picket line was rigorously kept up. night and day, rain cr 
shine. 

It is not an agreeable matter to recall, but picket duty 
was, at first, largely directed against the men of our own 
army. For awhile we had orders to shoot any person 
approaching the picket line from the inside, without the 
countersign. The removal of McClellan and the unmixed 
disaster at Fredericksburg, immediately following, combined 
with other iniluences, had terribly disheartened many soldiers. 
They were deserting at this time at the rate of nearly 300 a 
day. This was confined mostly to drafted men and those 
from the larger Eastern cities, or to poorly organized regi- 
ments. It was not true to any great extent of our corps, and 
there was not a deserter from the Twenty-seventh during this 
period. We had not been long directly under McClellan, and 
had not participated in the late battle. If both of these had 
been true of us, however, there is no reason to believe that it 
would have changed things very much. The devotion of the 
Twenty-seventh to the cause in the interests of which it iiad 
volunteered was deeply rooted. 

A goodly number of letters were received this winter, by 
different ones of our boys, openly requesting and urging them 
to desert. The writer saw a few of such letters. They were 
not written to him, but to others of his company. They all 
had the same tenor : It wa^^, that the rebellion could never 
be put down by force, we were now waging a war solely ** to 
free the nigger,'" it had already lasted longer than anybody 
at first believed possible, the money we were getting was 
worthless, the writer was so lonesome and melancholy, in 
some instances so destitute, that the soldier was advised and 
entreated to come home. In some letters, names were given 
of men who had come home already. These letters were 

19 



:?90 HISTORY OK THE 

doubtless one of the means resorted to by the wide, treasonable 
conspiracy then active throughout Indiana. AN'eak parents 
and other relatives, supposed to have influence with particular 
soldiers, were used as tools by men in the plot. They were 
induced to write these letters and the very words to be written 
were often suggested. All such disloyal letters were wholly 
lost on the Tw^enty-seventh. They were answered in the neg- 
ative very plainly, most of them with vicious and profane 
emphasis. vSome of them were sent back to loyal neighbors, 
to be used as they thought best. 

The commissioned officers of the Twenty-seventh took 
formal action at this time with reference to another form of 
these developments in Indiana. At a regularly called meeting 
of the officers a committee was appointed which later re- 
ported a series of preambles and resolutions naming definitely 
the disloyal legislature then in session and tendering the 
services of the Twenty-seventh to the governor, if needed, for 
its suppression. 

These whereases and resolves, after being adopted bv the 
meeting, were signed in person by all the officers present with 
the regiment, except one. Those signing were Col. Silas Col- 
grove, Maj. G. W. Birge, Qiiartermaster J. M. Jamison, 
Adjt. T. F. Colgrove, Asst. vSurg. J. H. Alexander, Chaplain 
T. A. Whitted, Capts. J. W. Wilcoxson, J. C. Wdliams, 
J. A. Cassidy, G. L. Fesler, David Van Buskirk, J. R. Fesler, 
J. D. McKahin and T. H. Nance, First Lieuts. S. S. Ilam- 
rick, J. W. Thornburg, O. P. Furguson, Thos. Box, James 
Stephens, J. M. Bloss, Peter Fesler, \V. W. Dougherty and 
\V. H. Holloway, Second Lieuts. vS. D. Porter, T. \V. Casey, 
Joseph Balslev, W. Rotlick, Isaac B. \"an Buskirk and J. M. 
kabberly. 

The one exception was First Lieut. Stephen Jerger. A 
committee was appointed to see him and either obtain his sig- 
nature or report his reasons for refusing to sign. The com- 
mittee failed in both respects. The Lieutenant llatly refused 
to hear the paper read, or to discuss its merits with the com- 
mittee. 

Lieutenant Jerger was a German, a somewhat recent 
arrival in this country. Being promoted to captain soon after 
this, he lost a leg at Chancellorsville, and died from the effects 
of ir, shortly after the war. He was a stern, exacting officer, 
but reasonably competent and faithful. Though his service 



T\V ENTV- SE \' E NTII I N D 1 AN A . 



■2\n 



was somewhat of a perfunctory or professional character, his 
devotion to the flag of his adopted country cannot be ques- 
tioned. 

Tliis action of the officers of the Twenty-seventh, on 
being made public in Indiana, created a great commotion. 
The resolutions were published in all of the papers and were 
widely read and discussed, as they were also in the infamous 
Legislature at which they were largely aimed. In this discus- 
sion in the Legislature there was the usual rot about " intimi- 
dating free speech,'" " military dictation," etc., etc. Our 
surgeon. Johnson, who, iiaving resigned from the Twenty- 
seventh, wascneof the few loyal members of this legislature, 
boldly btood up for his late comrades in arms, affirming that 
he personally knew them to be a reasonable, clear-headed 
bodv of men, as ^vell as splendid soldiers and intense patriots: 





LiHUT.-CoL. John R. Fhsi.er. 



Cai't. Peter Fesler, Co. (j. 



The incident may fairly be taken as an indication of what 
was true at the time of all Indiana soldiers in the field, " re- 
gardless of past party affiliations or previous condition of 
servitude." Incipient treason at home found little sympathy 
among the soldiers in the army. 

During the three months in this camp we received eight 
months pay. We were paid for four months Jan. 21 and for 



292 HISTOllV OK THE 

four more. April 25. This was really all back pay, as it left 
tliree months still due. We were paid wholly in treasury 
notes, or "Green Backs," as they were called, because printed 
on green paper. There is some agitation at the present time 
as to the fairness of this transaction. The course of the Gov- 
ernment was precisely the same here, in one respect, as that 
of any other debtor who, when he cannot pay his obligations 
in current money, gives his note, leaving the creditor to get 
what he can for it. In all honorable, private transactions, 
however, the debtor stands the discount, as it is called. That 
is, he makes the face of the note larger, or in some other wav 
compensates the creditor for what the note lacks of bringing 
its face in the open market. But in the case under considera- 
tion the debtor did nothing of the kind, lie simply handed 
out his notes for the face of the debt and left his self-sacrificing 
creditors to take them and get what they could for them, or 
do worse. Of course they took them. They would have 
taken them if they had only been worth a tithe of what ihey 
really were. They would have taken thein and signed a 
receipt in full of all claims if they had not been worth any- 
thing! They were the friends of the debtor, they were I 
They proposed to stand by him in his troubles, come what 
might. And they do not and cannot regret it now. Unless 
their reasons or their wills fail them, they never will regret it ! 

But. if this debtor, now grown very rich and nourishing, 
with resources almost unlimited, so much so that he pays all 
kinds of claims growing out of those disordered times, even 
paying immense claims when those making them were the 
admitted leaders in this attempt to ruin him, doing it on the 
sole ground that he is too rich and great to wrong any one — if 
under these circumstances, this debtor should happen to 
remember these self-sacrificing creditors, now almost univer- 
sally in moderate circumstances, many of them really need\', 
and should recall this questionable transaction of his, and 
decide to make it right, even at this late day, such a course 
might look zi'dl, to say the least. 

This is more of a part than the writer has taken before in 
the discussion of this question. It is of no great concern to 
him. personallv. As bearing upon the matter, it may be 
stated here that records of the period under consideration, 
made bv members of the Twenty-seventh, state that apples 
were sixteen dollars per barrel with us this winter, and eggs 



TWENTV-SE\'KXTH INDFANA. ^i^i) 

lii'tv cents per dozen, paid of course in this money. Tliese 
were wholesale prices, paid by those who expected to sell them 
again. How much it cost those who consumed them to 
indulge in a slight reminder of home, in the shape of apples or 
eggs, may be imagined. 

Our regular rations at this time were unusually liberal 
and varied. In addition to pork, beans, coffee, sugar, rice, 
molasses and hard tack, with some fresh beef, all of which 
were abundant and excellent, we received onions, beets, car- 
rots, cabbage, and perhaps other vegetables, occasionally. 
General Hooker, who was now in command of the Army of 
the Potomac, received the credit, whether rightfully or not, 
for this improvement in our supplies, and to use a recently 
coined expression, it " boomed " him wonderfully in the 
esteem and confidence of his soldiers. 

There were other changes that were equally, if not more 
inspiriting. Things were not out of joint and neglected, as 
had formerly been the case ; not glaringly so, anyway, 
wherever it depended upon staff officers and others who were 
making few sacrifices in their country's service. Nothing 
breeds dissatisfaction and demoralization as quickly in an 
army as to have it appear that certain favored classes are hav- 
ing it easy, are habitually neglecting their duties, causing 
delay«!, suffering and failures, and nothing is said about it. 
Men lose heart under -such circumstances and become sullen 
and really fractory. They are inc.ipable of acting the part of 
good soldiers, when they see. not only that they have all the 
heavy burdens to bear, but that they alone are held to any ac- 
countability. 

All of us will remember the peculiar situation of the Third 
l>rigade picket line this winter. It is doubtful, though, 
whether anyone could tell why it was ever established where 
it was. The line was located far back, along a creek, among 
hill- and gorges, densely overgrown with bushes and trees. 
At one stretch, it crossed a creek back and forth, several 
times, without any apparent reason for it. In the daytime it 
was a lonesome, wierd, ghostly locality, difficult of access and 
requiring care to traverse. Of a dark, rainy night, it became 
a veritable Dante's Inferno, demanding as much courage for a 
lone picket to remain on his beat, as to charge a battery, under 
ordinary conditions. One night during the winter there was 
an unusually heavy, wet snow; it accumulated upon the trees 



294 HISTOllV OK THE 

until it broke down and uprooted a great many, and stripped 
the limbs off" of a still larger number. All night long, there 
was a continuous snapping and roaring in the forests, followed 
by the crash of the falling timber, until one might have sup- 
posed there was a battle in progress. Wlien relieved the next 
morning the men on picket could scarcely get to camp, as 
those who relieved them could scarcely get out from camp. 

Another night a picket awoke the echoes, in the stillness 
of the dark jungle, and had the reserve i ush to his aid at 
break-neck speed, through the tangled undergrowth and over 
the rough ground, by firing his musket at an old horse, that 
was grazing outside. Nobody believed him when he said he 
had mistaken the old horse for a mounted rebel scout. They 
all knew he was only tired of standing out there alone. 

Many nights were so inky dark that no one could see 
anything. Even those objects near at hand could be dis- 
cerned quite as well with the eyes closed as open. For the 
relief to cross the various foot-logs, and get around to the differ- 
ent posts, was a great undertaking. At every foot-log one or 
more of the men fell into the creek, which at the time was a 
roaring torrent. 

Several nights the pole-cats almost stampeded the entire 
Third Brigade picket line. They were really expected to 
assail the line every night. The rocky ledges along the creek 
tarnished them a natural place of rendezvous, and, sallying 
out in platoons and battalions, they were formidable foes. 
Their military pomp may not have been quite equal to ours, but 
their equipment for eff'ective, aggressive warfare was hard to 
withstand. A peculiar advantage they possessed over us \v;is 
that, if any difference, they were more to be dreaded dead than 
alive. The old, old maxim is certainlv true in a war with 
pole-cats, if nowhere else, namely, "Discretion is the better 
pa't of valor." One of our American humorists says, '■ He is 
called a pole-cat, because it is always best to handle him with 
a po'e, and the longer the pole the better." 

There was more snow this winter than the winter before, 
several \ery deep ones. One at least, was sixteen inches on 
the level. There was also the endless amount of rain, peculiar 
to the South in war-time. One might conclude on noting how 
all the data of that period are burdened with references to 
rain and snow, that there was no fair weather whatever. ^'et 
there was. There were verv manv clear, suniiv davs thi-- win- 



TWENTY -SEVENTH INDIANA. 



205 



ter, delightfully miUl and cheerful. On such days all the 
cajiips were full of life. With those ofT duty, or in the inter- 
vals of drill and other respuiisibilities, numberless pastimes, 
games, trials of strength aiul of speed, visits to other camps, 
shopping errands to different suttlers, etc., etc., were the order. 
The hardship and druc^gery of picket duty were largely 
mitigated this winter by the sociability and good fellowship of 
those detailed for it. No better instance could be cited show- 
ing how elastic the spirits of young soldiers were, and how 
completely they adjusted themselves to all conditions. Fidel- 
ity to liuty was balanced with relaxation and amusement to 





First Lieut. W. W. Dokghkki v. 
AnjT. OF THE 27th. 



Lihi'T. J. K. McCaskev, 
Company 1. 



the extent that many will remember pleasantly. .\round 
blazing log heaps the men of the reserve played games, spun 
yarns, related former experiences and achievements (never the 
least bit colored, of course) cracked jokes (never stale ones) 
and discussed all kinds of questions, the livelong night. This 
was not only a pastime, but greatly promoted mutual 
acquaintance, especially between men of diflFerent companies, 
who saw little of each other at other times. Friendships were 
then formed that have continued to the present. Despite the 
uncanny locality, and some as foul weather as only Southern 
weather could be, in war time, we came off oi duty in a cheer- 



206 IIISTOHV OF THE 

fill State of mind, and not dreading to have oar turn come 
again. 

Another feature of picket dutv here (and camp guard as 
Avell) that the boys will not forget, was the many clear, far- 
sounding bugle calls, that were usually the first harbingers of 
the approaching day. A number of artillery and cavalry 
commands were encamped in the vicinity, and some of them 
must have been upon higher ground than most of the sur- 
rounding region. The buglers, too, must have been unusually 
proficient. They could sound a bugle equal to Gabriel him- 
self. Almost the first intimation that the lonely sentinel, 
pacing his beat in the darkness, would have that light was 
iibout to dawn, would be the loud and distinct, but really 
sweet and beautiful, notes of one of these bugles, sounding 
the reveille. How that bugler wou'd wake the echoes in 
every valley and glen and in every nook and jungle! With 
what a prolonged, stirring crescendo he would sound the last 
notes. Immediately other buglers would take up the same 
call and. one after another, the fife and drum corps would 
join in, with their squeak and clatter, until the whole region 
to our rear would be in a pleasing uproar. 

Twice during the winter, a penalty peculiarly military 
was executed upon offenders in the Twenty-seventh. Its force 
and eflect would scarcely be appreciated, except by those 
having an army experience and who understand how much 
every true soldier prizes his good name among his comrades. 
On February 4th, three members of the regiment were drummed 
out of the army, for cowardice at Antietam, and on April 
17th, another suft'ered the same penalty, for stealing money 
from his messmates. In both instances, the culprits had been 
formally tried by a regularly constituted court, and sentence 
duly passed. After having their heads shaved as bare as the 
palm of one's hand, and, in case of the first three, the letter 
"C," for coward, and in the case of the last one, the letter 
" T," for thief, indelibly tattooed upon them, they were 
placed at the head of the regiment, and a file of men was 
drawn up behind them, at a charge bayonet. Then, with 
some fifers and drummers following after them, playing the 
" Rogue's March,'" they passed between the two ranks of the 
regiment as they faced inward, down to the left, thence 
over the guard line, and out of the camp. That was all. In 



T\VEXTV-SF.\'FN'ril INDIANA. 207 

some other instances in the aiiiiy, imprisonment was added to 
this punishment, but not in these. Jt should have been added 
with the hist, tie was an incorrigible and lieartless thief, and 
the oft'ense for which he w'as punished was very aggravated. 
In civil life, a like oft'ense would receive the maximum of time 
in the state's prison. The writer was not personally knowing 
to the circumstances relating to the oft'ense of the others, 
though their guilt was doubtless clearly proved, at least in 
form. None of the disgraced culprits ever appeared in camp 
again. 

There were not many furloughs granted to members of 
the Twenty-seventh during this period. Perhaps even fewer 
enlisted men visited their homes this winter than the one pre- 
vious. Owing to the expense of the trip and the shortness of 
the time allowed, as compared to the distance, few cared to 
go, anyway. But Colonel Colgrove, and several others of 
the commissioned officers, visited Indiana at this time. 

During a part of our stay near Staft'ord Court House we 
had the system of company cooks in the Twenty-seventh. It 
was never regarded with favor among us. We did not seem 
to get as much good from our rations that way as by the small 
mess system. Whether all ate more, or the ravages of the 
gormandizers were more noticeable, or w'hether the company 
cooks were wasteful or venial, we never knew. What we did 
know was that, when we had no company cooks, but divided 
the rations among small messes, and allowed them to do their 
ow^n cooking, unless the issue was very short, we had plenty 
and to spare. That was true of the men generally. But 
when we had company cooks, no matter how liberal our 
rations appeared to be, or who did the cooking, there was a 
general complaint of gnawing stomachs. Hence the company 
cook was not a favorite with us. All songs and other refer- 
ences to " Mess Tents " stir up only harrowing and unsavory 
recollections in our minds. At this time, however, orders 
from higher authority somewhere positively enjoined this 
regulation. Extra eftorts were made bv company otiicers and 
others (also enjoined by higher authoritv) to have it work 
satisfactorily. It may have done better now than formerly, or 
it may not ; but we never tried it again, after leaving this 
camp. 

The best illustration of the dift'erence between the system 
of company cooks and that of small messes that is possible for 



298 



]IISTOUY OF THE 



the ordinary citizen is to imapfine all the families in a village 
or in a certain district of a city, regardless of their habits or pro- 
pensities, giving up their own homes and domestic w.mv of 
living and begin living in one, common hash-house. Those 
that have self-respect, not to mention love of order, cleanliness 
and plenty, would soon understand in that way, something 
about the company cook system in the army. Yet the War 
Department, and most of those high up in the army establish- 
ment, are intensely set on having a company cook in each and 
every company. 




L 




/»»il 




L.Ji«i^ 



^,^ 



Maj. (JKN. H r:\KV W. .Sloci-.m, 
(From a \\"ar Time I'hutoi^n-aph.) 



Ge.m. Thos. H. Rlcjeu, 

(From Photojj^raph Kept by Capt. 
Williams since the War.) 



We participated in three grand reviews during this period. 
The first was on March 5th, by Maj. -Gen. II. \V. ."^locinn. 
He had succeeded the lamented Manslicld in connnand of our 
corps, while we were at Maryland Rights, but up to this time 
we had seen little, if anything, of him. As the commander of 
tlie larger Twentieth Corps, later on, and of vSherman's Left 
Wing, in the March to the Sea, and up through the Carolinas, 
Slocum became wndely and favorably known. He never 



TWENTV-SEVEXIH INDIANA. 2')0 

attained to a liitrher position, or wider fame, than the mem- 
bers of the Twenty-seventh wished for him and beHe\ed him 
worthy of. He was a quiet, retiring, cultured gentleman, 
always unassuming antl courteou-, but as uniformly lirm and 
capable. At this time he could not have weighed much over 
150 pounds and was about 85 years of age. 

The other two grand reviews were, first by General 
Hooker, March ISth, then by President Lincoln, .\pril lOih. 
^\11 of these review's were held in some rather level lields, 
something like a mile east of Stafford Court House. There 
was nothing, either in the display attempted or the services 
exacted, that could be called unreasonable in any of them. 

General Hooker was also a stranger to us previous to 
this. He had been placed in command of the army whi e we 
were absent on the upper Potomac. He was nothing if not 
theatrical. His appearance upon the lield at this re\ iew was 
strongly suggestive of colored lights, made-to-order scenery, 
character dressing and other stage effects. He came amid the 
thunderous roar of cannon, mounted upon his noted white 
stallion, moving like the wind, a hundred or moie staff ofhcers 
and orderlies galloping at his heels. The whole cavalcade 
was gorgeous and resplendant in shining new uniforms. The 
gilt and tinsel of their shoulder straps, buttons and ornaments 
gleamed in the .'uu light, and -^carlet sashes and various colored 
banners, guidons and streame rs waved and fluttered conspicu- 
ously. But if such vanities formerly impressed soldiers wiih 
the capabilities of their leaders, their tendency must have 
been in the opposite direction during the Civil war, especially 
among the practical, matter-of-fact men of the West. This 
seems to be very clear in the inner, personal history of those 
days. Such displays prejudiced men against a commander, if 
anything. 

To this review by Hooker the Tvventy-seventh carried, for 
the ffrst time, the two splendid new Hags — the one a regulation 
national flag and the other the Indiana State colors, which 
Colonel Colgrove had recentlv brought with him from Indian- 
apolis. They were furnished bv the Sta e. thrt)ugh Governor 
Morton, as a special recognition of the services of the regi- 
ment. These same flags now repose in the flag room of the 
St;'.te House at Indianap ilis, duly marked as having belongetl 
to the Twenty-seventh. Thev were carried until the llnal 
muster out. 



300 lIISrOI{V OF THE 

In the hands of members of the re<jjiment and waving 
over its sturdy ranks, their silken folds kissed the breezes in 
nine diflPerent States of the I'nion and in the District of 
Columbia. By strong and devoted arms they were proudlv 
held above the fighting line at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, 
Resaca, New Hope Church, Culps Farm, Peach Tree Creek 
and the Siege of Atlanta. More than one fearless hero 
received his mortal wound while engaged in this extra haz- 
ardous, tliough cheerful, duty. Nearly a score of others have 
gone crippled through life, because thev dartd to do the same. 
Those flags are faded and soiled on account of their long 
exposure to the sun and rain, thev were badlv snagged and 
torn by the exigencies of the hard service through which the}- 
pass^^d. and rebel bullets innumerable cut savagely through 
their once beautiful stripes ami starrv fields of blue. liut 
they were never dishonored. Tiiev were never tainted by tiie 
touch of a disloyal hand. Their sacied shadows never, never 
rested upon a coward. 

Not to have gi\en all the soldiers an opportunity to see 
the illustrious and beloved President Lincoln, while \isiting 
the army, would have been a crime. Much as we all revered 
him, even then, and implicitly as we all believed in him, many 
of us never saw him before or afterwards. That sight alone 
almost compensated us for our entire service in the army. To 
iiave lived in his generation without seeing him would 
be a matter of lifelong regret. And the vision of his tall, 
angular form, his long, dangling legs, his pants working up 
and exposing his boot tops, his high silk hat bobbing up and 
down on his head, as he trotted by on horseback ; and hi> 
plain, homely and sad. though noble, kindly and inspiring 
tace, as it beamed upon us when we marched by him in 
review, will be fondly and proudly cherished by each of us, 
when the resounding salvos of artillery, the brilliant caval- 
cade of iiigh officers and their retinues, the blare of bugles and 
the music of bands, the fluttering and drooping of flags and 
banners, the endless procession of marching and wheeling bat- 
talions of trained veterans, and the many other factors of that 
great and memorable pageant, have faded entiiely out of 
mind. 

The President had then the short, rather uneven wiiis- 
kers, that he seems to have worn during most, if not all, of his 
administration. Pictures of him were so common that anv 



TWKN'PY-SEVHX III INDIANA. 301 

one of us would likely have known him anywhere. In th;it 
sense we were neitlier surprised nor disappointed by his appear- 
ance. In e\ery respect, however, in which we had not heard 
about him, and in all those gifts and graces with which our 
youthful imagination, had endowed him, he measured more 
than up to the standard. Above all else, the evident fellow- 
feeling that he had for all true men, and his evident apprecia- 
tion of the services we were trying to render the country^ 
about which no one could be mistaken who saw him, greatly 
cheered and encouraged all of us. He seemed even more like 
" Father Abraham " to us after this than he had before. 

The entire Twelfth Army Corps, its full quota of infan- 
try, artillery, and the cavalry on duty with it, except the small 
numbers on other details, were present at this review. And 
the details for the various necessary duties had been reduced 
as much as possible. The ground was sufficiently open and 
level, so thai all were in sight at once. The occasion probably 
has the addit onal distinction, therefore, of being the largest 
number of soldiers any of us ever saw, at any one time. 

As the spring advanced various orders began to fore- 
shadow a move. One required the packing of overcoats, and 
all surplus blankets and clothing, to be shipped to Washing- 
ton for storage through the summer. These came back to us 
in Tennessee, the following autumn. In obedience to another 
order, eight days' rations were drawn by regimental quarter- 
masters, which also required that they should henceforth keep 
that amount constantly on hand thereafter. In obedience to 
a third order, <'ne hundred rounds of cartridges were issued to 
each soldier. This meant that besides having his cartridge 
box full, every man should have not less than three pounds of 
powder and lead in his pockets or haversack. 

Those writers who speak of soldi ers carrying their surplus 
cartridges in their knapsacks, as many of them do, and as 
some officers did at the time, do not know of the prudence and 
forethought of the men of the Twenty-seventh. It was the 
rule with us. and others, to unsling knapsacks when going 
into an engagement. A Twenty seventh soldier knew better, 
therefore, than to put his extra cartridges in his knapsack. If 
he ever needed extra cartridges it was at a time when he was 
not likely to h ive his knapsack at hand. 

Once we had marching orders, but, a rain coming on be- 



302 



iiisroKv oi' THE 



fore lie time to start, tlie orders were co iitennanded. Tliere 
was to be no " sticking in the mud " this time. 

On April 20th, a week before the final start, our Corps 
Badcjes were issued to us. This was another instance in the 
armv wliere a little thing exercised a ^reat and salutary 
influence. A corps badge was a small flannel patch, worn on 
the hat, or cap, to indicate the corps, and also the division, to 
which a soldier belonged. The idea is said to have originated 
with the much lamented Kearney, and finally came to be used 
everywhere in the army, both East and West. The shape of 





Sf.rgt. J. B. Ga.mhoi.d, Co. A. Sergt.-Mx\j. Jamks R. Shakp. 

(Recent Portrait.) 

the patch indicated the corps, and the color of it indicated the 
division. Who decided tiie matter we never learned, but we 
always felt glad that the men of the Twelfth Corps had the 
five pointed star, the same that is on the flag, assigned to them 
for their corps badge. Being in tlie First Division, we wore a 
red star. Members of the Second Division w-orc a white star, 
and the Third Division wore a blue star. Other corps had 
difTerently shaped emblems, but the colors denoting the divi- 



T\VKNTV-SK\-EN"n[ INDIANA. 303 

sions were the sume in all. One corps in the Army of tlie 
Potomac had a sphere, anotlier a clover leaf, another a dia- 
mond, another a AIalte.se cross, another a Roman cross, etc. 
Fruni the tirst, much pride and enthusiasm were awakened by 
these corps badges, naturally increasing later en. Wen were 
led to make exertions and overcome dit^cultits, which, be- 
fore, they would not haye thougiit possible, in order to 
enhance or maintain the reputation of those wearing a certain 
badge. To this day a red star, or even a white or blue star, 
wherever it is seen, has a peculiar and mysterious influence 
over any member of the Twenty-seventh. 

These corps badges were eventually placed also on 
wagons, ambulances, hospital tents, markers, headquarter 
flags, etc.. etc. This put an end to much of the waiting, 
hunting and confusion that had been so annoying previously. 
A soldier alone, or a commander leading a column, could often 
locate himself at once, by this means. A wagon or ambulance 
rolling by, a small piece of bunting floating from a pennant, 
even a lone soldier trudging along, or lounging at the road 
side displaying a certain emblem alTorded the necessary 
hint. 

While we were at .Staflbrd Court House Col. Thos. H. 
Ruger, of the Third Wisconsin, was made a brigadier-general 
and given command of our brigade. The same General Ruger 
has figured conspicuously, in high stations in the army, in 
more recent years. He was no stranger to us now, the Third 
having been in our brigade all along. A graduate of West 
Point, like so many other successful generals of the war, he had 
been out of the army and engaged in civil pursuits for some 
time. Without losing anything of value in their military 
training or experience, this mixing with the people, and 
acquaintance with the affairs of every day life and its practical 
problems, many believe, was the essential element of success 
in the careers of these men. It divorced them from some of 
the pedantic and hampering technicalities of military schools, 
made them more self-reliant and resourcelul, and, best of all, 
gave them an opportunity to learn men, and imbibe a wisdom 
and tact in dealing with men, that no school has ever taughr, 
ami that few persons who have gone directly from West Point 
into the army, and remained there, have ever exhibited the 
least sign of possessing. 

At the outbreak of the war, Ruger was a lawyer at fanes- 



304 IIISTOKV OF THK 

ville. Wis. lie was close to thirty-three years old when 
placed in command of the Third Brigade. As he continued 
in command of it until the fall of Atlanta, he had much to do 
with its record. \Vhile he, nor no one else, seemed to strive 
after wide fame for this brigade, especially not in the wav of 
advertising it by a peculiar, catchy name, its conduct, from 
first to last, the way it held its ground when sorely beset, the 
battle losses of its regiments, the reports of eye witnesses who 
saw it in tight places, particularly the incidental and indirect 
testimony to be found in tiie reports of those who confronted 
it on the many sanguinary fields where it fought, and thcij- 
record of losses, all of these, are interesting to contemplate, 
especially to one who was in its ranks. And he is not con- 
fused by comparing them, with others, even with some who, at 
the time, if not since the facts and figures have been otficiallv 
made public, were making more pretensions. 

There were also an additional number of promotions in 
the Twenty-seventh during this period. Without intending 
to reflect in the least upon those previouslv filling the same 
positions, and without really doing so in fact, it might be said, 
in a general way, that every such promotion increased the 
efficiency of the regiment and was for the good of the service. 
In most instances, the men vacating positions were them- 
selves promoted; where this was not the case the new officer, 
because he came up from below, with a wider experience, 
including the example of the one he succeeded, was able to 
improve upon what had gone before. 

Three of these promotions, in particular, because affect- 
ing the Twenty-seventh as a whole, were very fortunate and 
had a most salutary influence upon its subsequent career. 
Capt. John R. Fesler, of Company G, was made lieutenant-col- 
onel. Adjt. T. F. Colgrove was made major and Lieut. W. W. 
Daugherty, of Company H, was made adjutant. 

Colonel Fesler was alm:)st a model volunteer officer. His 
unfailing competency and his sterling, manly character com- 
manded deference and respect in all quarters; while his 
modest, unassuming demeanor and genial disposition gave 
him an influence over men that they could not getaway from. 

Major Colgrove knew the tactics as well as he did the 
a, b, c's, and his intimate relations with the head of the regi- 
ment gave it the benefit of his knowledge to an extent that 
could not have been true of any one else. From this on 



TWENTV-SEVKXTH INDIANA. J305 

blunders on reviews and in other public places, as well as in 
battles and other tight places, became unknown. 

An adjutant has much to do in givin<^ spirit and tone to 
the daily round of duties in a regiment. Whether anything 
is done on time or in exactly tiie right way depends much 
upon him. A man should bring to the discharge of the duties 
of that ortice not only exact military and business training, but 
quick perceptions and a tireless energy. All of these were 
possessed by Lieutenant Dougherty. He continued as adjutant 
until the end, and an improvement upon him in the office could 
scarcely have been possible. 

Thus provided with officers, we were ready for another 
campaign, — vSlocum in command of the corps, Williams the- 
division, and Ruger the brigade. Colonel Colgrove was still 
at the head of the Twenty-seventh, with John R. Fesler, T. 
F. Colgrove, and W. W. Dougherty as his principal aides 
among the iighting contingent. All of the companies were 
also provided with experienced, capable captains and lieu- 
tenants. In the hopeful spirit and the high ambition to excel, 
which animated every member of it, from highest to lowest, 
no less than in its improved organization, the Twenty-seventh 
was never in such a promising condition for effective, telling 
service as at this time. 



20 



CHAPTER XXIll. 



ciiaxci:ll()rs\'ille. 

In this chapter upon the part which ihe Twenty-seventh 
bore in the battle of Chancellorsville, the writer desires to 
acknowledge his indebtedness to Comrade Bresnahan. for his 
able article upon the subject, read at the reunion of the regi- 
ment at Washington, Ind., and published in the Indianapolis 
Journal. 

Early on Monday morning, April 27, 1SG8, the Twenty- 
seventh, along with the balance of the Twelfth Army Corps, 
marched briskly out of its home-like camp, near Statl'ord 
Court House. Our hearts were never lighter, or our steps 
more cheerful. In the estimation of common soldiers, as well 
as exalted commanders, the time had come for action. We 
all felt that we could do something toward suppressing the 
rebellion if we had a chance, and we iirmly I)elieved that we 
were now going to have it. 

We carried an unusual load, not of clothing, bedding or 
of personal conveni'incies, but of food and ammunition. 
Everv soldier had about his person eight days' rations and one 
hundred rounds of cartridges. General Slocum says this was 
more than double the amount of lations ever carried by any 
troops in that army before. Prior to this, we had never car- 
ried more than sixty rounds of carrritlges. .\fter going twelve 
miles, in the direction of the upper Rappahannock, we 
bivouacked near Ilartwood church. Here we met also the 
troops of the Eleventh Corps. 

A limited number of small tires were allowed, to prepare 
supper, but before dark a detail was sent around to make sure 
that they were all extinguished. Wrbal orders were also 
given prohibiting loud talking, cheering, or any kind of noise. 
Before the commanding general had passed us on the road, 
staiV officers and orderlies had ridden ahead to caution the 
soldiers against demonstrations. 

Next morning we were again on the road early. Moving 
swiftly but silently we bivouacked that night near Kelley's 



T\VEXTV-SK\P:.\iir IMM.WA. 



;3(j7 



Ford. The sa.ne precautions against Hres and noi.es were 
:igani enforced. ^ 

During the night a pontoon bridge was thrown across the 
Rappahannock, and early the next n.orning the Eleventh 
Corps crossed over. After crossing, however, the Eleventh 
Corps halted near the river, while the Twelfth Corps crossed 




orllle t"' [m'r '""' ''" Twenty-seven.h was in the lead 
of the 1 welfth Corps. " Send three or four smart marching 

blocum. This ford ,. where the Culpeper and Fredericks- 



80S IIIsrOKV OF THE 

burg road crosses the Rapidaii ri\er. There were fifty-six 
regiments to choose from, but the duty devolved upon the 
Third Wisconsin, Second Massachusetts and Twenty-seventh 
Indiana. While the Twenty seventh was the leading regi- 
ment, Company C was deployed as skirmishers on tlie right 
of the road and Company F on the left. In advance of them, 
sometimes half a mile and sometimes five rods, depending 
upon the attitude of the enemy, was a small detachment of 
cavalry. As long as our direction was southerly, straight out 
from the river, a plucky force of mounted rebels disputed our 
progress. They kept carefully out of range of our muskets, 
but showed little fear of the cavalry. After our sharp turn 
to the left, eastward, we saw no more of them, though they 
seem to have annoyed the column behind us somewhat. 

The march was truly " smart." The writer was out on 
the flank of the skirmish line, one hundred yards or so from 
the road. Heavily laden, passing over much rough ground, 
covere 1 with various impediments, to keep abreast with the 
column in the road required vigorous and sustained exertion. 
After going some miles, the skirmish line was made heavier, 
and the supports increased. To do this the Third Wisconsin 
was brought up and marched with the Twenty-seventh, also 
furnishing the skirmishers on the left of the road. 

On nearing Germaina Ford, it was ascertained that a 
small force of the enemy was posted there. In making dis- 
positions to attack it. which w'as speedily done, the Twenty- 
seventh was held in the road as a support, while on either side 
were the Third Wisconsin and Second Massachusetts, pre- 
ceded by skirmishers. The enemy, as it afterwards developed, 
consisted of only about 125 men, recently brought there to 
rebuild the bridge, which had been destroyed. They had 
evidently had no intimation of our approach, as part of them 
were still on our side of the river. By a prompt advance, the 
entire detail was captured or killed; there were several of the 
latter. 

We had a good illustration, to-day, of the difl'erence 
between the operations of cavalry and infantry. From early 
morning the cavalry of the two sides had been raising a great 
hubbub. A good part of the time their carbines and pistols 
were popping furiously. There was charging and counter- 
charging, that fairly shook the earth. Yet the total casualty, 
as far as it appeared from our standpoint, vva>^ one Union cav- 



t\ventv-sevp:xth Indiana, 



300 



alrvnian thrown by his liorse stumbling, by which he was 
considerably bruised, and one rebel captured, on account of a 
similar mishap. But when our cavalry ran on to this rebel 
infantry, one was killed and two or three were wounded by 



n 




the tirst lire they drew. And no sooner iiad the infantry ot 

the two sides come in contlict than blood began to flow treely. 

The next step, after disposing of this trilling opposition, 



810 HISTORY OK THE 

was to get troops across the stream, to hold tlie approaches on. 
that side, while a bridge could be improvised. General Slo- 
cum gave orders for our brigade to wade over forthwith. The 
Twenty-seventh moved down to the water's edge and made 
preparations to enter, but there was some delay. After giv< 
ing the order to ford the stream, General Slocum had ridden 
away, as if to give attention to other matters. General Will- 
iams and General Ruger were present, with Colonel Colgrove, 
and it was the writer's understanding that neitlier of these 
believed it possible for men to withstand the current. A few 
mounted men were crossing at the time. The water was mid- 
side to the horses and terribly swift. Several horses lost their 
footing and, with their riders, went down the stream, rolling 
over and over. They eventually made the shore, so that none 
of them were drowned, but the prospect did look forbidding 
for footmen to venture in. Presently 'Slocum returned, and 
with more impatience and harshness than we ever saw him 
exhibit on any other occasion, inquired wliy the crossing was 
not in progress, adding that when he gave an order he expected 
it to be obeyed. Then, sitting upon his horse, he personally 
directed the entrance into the water, at least of the Twenty- 
seventh, which was the first infantry to cross. As we passed 
him. he had us join hands, two and two. This worked like a 
charm. It was simple but effective. Athough the w^atcr 
came to our armpits, and was so very swiff, with a rough, 
slippery bottom, no one of us was washed down. 

We had taken off our cartridge boxes and some of our 
clothing, and carried them upon our bayonets. Articles in our 
pockets, likely to be damaged, were transferred to receptacles 
higher up on our persons. Some passed such articles to 
mounted officers. Noticing this. General Slocum said, pleas- 
antlv, •'■ Never mind your pocketl)ooks, boys, but keep your 
powder dry." Thus our brigade, and the First Brigade of our 
division passed over. A few members of other regiments lost 
their footing, and got thoroughly drenched in the cold water, 
but no lives were lost. 

General vSlocum does not seem to have been at heart as 
sanguine of the success of the undertaking as his urgent man- 
ner in putting it to the test had the appearance of. In his 
report he says : "I have never witnessed a scene that tended 
to increase mv confidence in our troops, or that so strongly 
excited my admiration, as that presented bv the two brigades 



TWKXTV-SKVEXTH INOIANA. 311 

of Williams" division in fording the Rapidan river. This ford 
is a very difficult one at all times, the current being very 
rapid, and the water bein^\ in inan}^ places, at least four feet 
deep. Not only the ollicers, but every soldier, seemed to 
appreciate the necessity of speedily gaining the opposite bank ; 
and thev seemed to vie with each other in their eagerness to 
execute the order." He might have added that the soldiers 
treated it as a species of fun, and that the crossing was accom- 
plished amid much shouting, laughter and merriment. 

Xo sooner was the Twenty-se^■enth over than we climbed 
the opposite bank and formed in line a short distance out. As 
the other regiments came over they joined us on this line, and 
later all moved out a mile or so from the river and passed the 
night. That is, we waited with what patience and fortitude 
we could command for the corning day. Part of the Twenty- 
seventh was on picket, while the balance acted as the reserve. 
The cloth s of all were wet above the waist, from fording the 
river, and a cold rain fell during the night. 

A temporary bridge was soon placed upon the stone piers 
of the former one, and, by four o'clock next morning, both 
corps were across the Rapidan.^- We did not start very early 
this morning, the 80th of April, but by 1 : 00 P. ]M. we were 
near Chancellorsville. This distance is th'rteen miles. Arriv- 
ing there, our brigade diverged from the plank road, near where 
the Jackson monument now stands, and, going four or five 
hundred yards obliquely to the right, halted upon the exact 
ground over which we fought three days later. There we 
stacked arms and remained almost entirely inactive for forty- 
eight hours. 

O for a Grant, Napoleon, or some one, who appreciates 
the value of time in an emergency like the present ! \\'hen 
we halted that day at Chancellorsville, with three superb army 
corps, aggregating almost 40,000 men (the Fifth Corps hav- 
ing come up by another road), barely two brigades of the 
enemy, not over 8,000 men, were between us and the vicinity 
of Fredericksburg. An advance that afternoon would have 
found them almost without entrenchments. To assert that we 
might not have brushed them away and planted ourselves in 



■•'This bridj^e was built u]Hm the plans antl under the supervision 
of Captain Bioss, of the Twenty-seventh, who at this time was in com- 
mand of the " pioneers," a detail whose duty it was to keep in advance of 
the main colunm and "prepare tiie way" for it. 



812 



IIISTOKV OI- THE 



tlie open country above Fredericksburg, opening direct com- 
munication with that part of our army opposite that point, is 
to assert that we had in us none of the qualities of good soldiers. 
It is a curious fact, but before we had been at the point 
where we first halted a half hour, a rumt^r was current among 
us that the impending battle would be fought on that ground. 




X. 


J^ 


^ 


*-> 








tc 














t^ 


JL. 


3 


— 


t3 






— 


-3 


^ 


W 


J-- 


r^ 










— 


3 



It must have been a random guess by some one, though correct. 
General Hooker had not then reached Chancellorsville him- 
self. If it was already his plan, even tentatively, to deliver 
battle at that point, he never admitted it afterwards. 



TAVHXTV-SK\ KXTH IxniANA. 31'> 

Tlie next morninjij, Mav 1st, we were called into line and 
Hooker's famous order, havin<^ reference mainly to what the 
Eleventh and Twelfth Corps had then accomplished, but 
almost boasting in advance as to what he was going to do, 
was read to us. Rands played, the troops cheered, and there 
was enthusiasm generally. Of course, it made us feel very 
proud to have our own little corps mentioned so ilatteringly, 
all the more as the Twenty-seventh had been so prominently 
identified with its movements. The shocking blasphemy 
which Hooker is said to have uttered at this time, namely, 
that even God Almighty could not prevent him from destroy- 
ing the rebel army, was not in general circulation among tiie 
men. 

About eleven o'clock A. M., of this 1st of May, we 
marched out the plank road, past the Chancellorsville house, 
perhaps a mile. There we deployed into line of battle and 
moved a short distance further. The skirmishers in our front, 
which were not from our regiment, became engaged. Con- 
siderably to our left there seemed to be something of a battle 
in progress. The volleys of musketry at times were well sus- 
tained, and the thunder of artillery was severe. We did not 
come under fire ourselves, except that a few wild shells passed 
over our heads. The timber was very dense, and we could 
see little of what was going on. We did not see any rebels. 
The whole movement was extremely puzzling to us. No 
other troops, outside of our corps, appeared to be taking part. 
We passed large numbers of men, both infantry and artillery, 
as we moved out. They were not even under arms, and 
laughed and joked with us, as if they thought we might 
be going out for sport. The aspect of affairs strongly 
betokened a distressing lack of energy. The column moved 
slowly like one does when there is some obstruction ahead, as 
a mud hole or a creek, which is being crossed upon a foot-log. 
This was probably caused by the troops in front of us deploy- 
ing into position, and they must have been very deliberate 
about it. 

After finally halting where we had arrived in line of bat- 
tle, in the thick timber, we remained standing in position a 
short time, then turned by the right flank, in column of fours, 
moved into the road, thence back to the place from which we 
had started. As we again passed by the other troops, which 
had not t.iken part in the movement, the customary chaff was 



814 IIISTOKV OF THE 

exchan<red about Ricliinoiul bein<:^ taken, tlie war beinjjj over, 
etc., etc. In passing the Chancellorsville house, both going 
and coming, we saw General Hooker standing on the porch. 

On what slender threads great events do hang! This 
movement which, as far as we could understand at all, we 
decided must be merely a feint, or demonstration of some kind, 
while the real blow was struck in some other quarter, we are 
now told was made with the intention of attacking the enemy 
in force, with a view of clearing the way to Fredericksburg. 
We are told, furllier,that the plan w^s only abandoned when it 
was ascertained that the enemy was in too great force and too 
strongly entrenched. 

Once back in the woods, where we had halted when we 
first arrived on the field, we were ordered to fortify our posi- 
tion. The line, which had been facing east up to this time, 
was now faced to the south. Along this line we forthwith 
began to build a log parapet or breastwork, about as high as 
our shoulders, and to slash the ti nber for some distance in 
front of it. This is notable as being the first defenses of any 
kind we ever built on a battlefield. From this time on we 
never failed to build defenses, of some kind, wherever and 
whenever there was even a slight probability of their being 
needed. 

We had progressed well with our work of fortifving when 
suddenly, beyond the timber to the soutii of us, a crackling 
fire of musketry broke out, increasing at once to a savage 
skirmish. The oflicers comrn nded, '"Fall in," and the men 
instantlv dropped their axes and ran to their places. They 
were none too soon, for, almost before we had f^rmetl in front 
of where our muskets were stacked, orders came for the 
Twenty seventh to move in the direction of the firing. We 
started at once, bv the flank, double-quick, over our incom- 
plete breastworks, through the slashed timber, crossed the 
marshy ground and little run, passe ' up the slope, through a 
very tliick undergrowtii, antl, at the top, came to a cleared 
opening or farm. The distance thus passed over was two hun- 
dred yards or more. Near the far side of the clearing, two or 
three hundretl vards further, was a farm hous-e, with some out- 
buildings. The ground descended slightly in that direction to 
a creek at the further side of the clearing and some distance be- 
yond the house. Beyond the creek was a steep wooded bluft\ 
Around the house, and between it and us, was an orchard. 



T \V }■: N T \' - S E \' E N T 1 1 INDIA X A . 



815- 



Thi.s clearing or farm is the one known on the maps as 
Hazel Grove farm. When we reached this farm at this time 
the men engaged in the skirmish on our side were mostly in 
sight, scattered about the farm buildings and among the orchard 
trees, loading and tiring with evident energy. Colonel Col- 
grove continued to lead the Twenty-seventh straight out 
toward the men thus engaged, still moving by the flank. 
Minie balls began to sing around us plentifully, and there was 



'\ ^■'V. V \ ' \^\'\-' >- ' '' ' ,'. I ." ' ' ' 







'//"' 






'.•.';';'■'.■:■» • ■ ! /'\ ' V 









a.Ti^T^.ti,,,^, 4 o,,T«ct 
X Xf^^^ - 

.,,.,.. */-i7.'.;.t//<ftC.ot.i-i5w<<<. 

il >V^ M. "t^JW-tf. -7J.-4 iKi.. 



every appearance that we would iminediatelv be in battle, but 
when the regiment had fairlv cleared the timber a staff oflicer 
dashed after us and brought the Colonel an order to bring the 
regiment back to the edge of the timber behind us, and form 
along the fence which we had crossed.* TIiIn mo\ement was 
made very promptly by halting and changing front to rear on 



* Some think our line was in front of the fence. The fence may have 
curved at one or both flanks. The writer's comiiany, near the center 
was behind the fence* 



316 IIISTOKV OF THE 

tenth company. Being under such a hot fire, tlie over-shots 
aimed at our skirmishers, there was no delay in obeying the 
order. 

Just as we were taking position along the fence, with 
quite a little flurry, an incident transpired which all who were 
there will remember. A musket shot in our own ranks rang 
out startlingly clear and distinct, followed by the moaning of 
one hurt. A member of one of our companies had shot his 
own linger olT, accidentally as he claimed ; but some near him 
always believed he had done it on purpose. As it was his 
right forefinger, the case did have a suspicious look. 

Our line had barely been established at the fence when a 
rebel battery opened upon us from the wooded bluff, south of 
the creek. We were too near the batterv to be in much dan- 
ger from shells, unless they hit some one outright. Those 
fired were well aimed, however, and passing uncomfortably 
near us, did considerable damage by exploding among the 
troops in our rear. After firing shells for a while, canister 
was tried. This did not continue long. Only a few of those 
iron balls, about the size of a hulled walnut, had come bound- 
ing toward us, tearing up the ground and glancing here and 
there, when our special favorites. Battery M, First New York 
Artillery, began firing with tremendous energy immediately 
at our left. With their usual celerity they had galloped into 
position, without all of us hearing them. After that the rebel 
battery had enough to do without pestering the Twcntv- 
seventh. 

One of the first shots from Battery jVI exploded an ammu- 
nition chest in the rebel battery. In the light of the explosion 
we plainly saw a poor rebel thrown into the air, twentv-tive 
feet or more. Not many shots were fired by the rebels after 
the explosion. Their infantry had, in the meantime, with- 
drawn also, and quiet soon brooded over the scene. As the 
fire of our b ittery slackened, we could distinctly hear the 
screams of the rebel wounded. 

It has developed since that this attack on our pickets was 
made by Wright's brigade, of Anderson's rebel division. This 
brigade had been in our front while we were out on the plank 
road, as narrated above. About the time we withdrew from 
that position ourselves, they had moved around also, under 
orders to feel of the Union line at this point. Their alert 
scouts may have carried the information to the proper author- 



TWKNTV-SEVENTII INOIAXA. 817 

ities that the Twelfth Corps had moved away from here, 
leavinjy the point exposed, but liad not been quite prompt 
enough in reportinjr our return. It is amusing, from our 
standpoint, to read Wright's report of the affair. Among 
other ludicrous things, he says, in substance, that nothing 
but the approach of darkness preventeil him from capturing 
our battery. Fifteen thousand of tiie best troops in the rebel 
army could not have taken Battery M. It was supported by 
the Twelfth Army Corps, and nobody ever captured as much 
as one cannon from it. 

The Twenty-seventh did not return to the work of slash- 
ing timber and building breastworks, but remained w-jiere it 
was, through the night. Orders were very strict that no one 
should leave his place in the ranks or, on any account, go to 
sleep. The situation as night came on did look threatening, 
though we h;id learned, as all soldiers did, to obey such orders 
in the spirit, rather than in the letter. We were careful to 
remain somewhere near our places, and, if we w^ent to sleep, 
it would not be such a profound slumber that we would not 
be ready for any emergency. 

Later in the evening an event occurred which showed 
that, asleep or awake, the men of the Twenty-seventh were 
capable of acting prudently. Unobserved by us, Birney's 
division, of the Third Corps, had come up on our right. They 
w'ere not fully advised as to our position, as we were not of 
theirs. In posting their pickets, therefore, they got squarely 
in front of our line. At a time when w^e were very much 
exercised, with every nerve at its utmost tension, not knowing 
when the enemy might appear, suddenly the forms of these 
men, perhaps twenty or more of them, came into view, sil- 
iiouetted against the lighter background of the horizon. 
Nothing but the impulse to take a second thought, so as to 
make sure of our aim, as well as to make sure of doing the 
right thing in other respects, kept us from tiring upon them 
instantly. That fortunate second thought enabled the most 
observing among us to recognize that, for one thing, the men 
were not advancing toward us. This removed the necessity 
for great haste and gave opportunity for formal challenge and 
reply. This developed the fact that the supposed enemies were 
not only our soldiers, but that they belonged to the Twentieth 
Indiana regiment. We shuddered at the narrow margin by 
which a serious mishap had been averted. Every man of us 



318 IlISTORV OI' THE 

had stood with his musket cocked and aimed, and with his 
linger upon the trigger. At a most critical moment a soldier 
near the writer shouted sharply, "Shoot, damn "em, they're 
rebels!" Jvlost fortunately, no one shot. 

This was the only time that these two Indiana regiments, 
containing a goodly number of neighbors and mtimate friends, 
ever found themselves so near together, and it was the only time 
during our service that another Hoosier regiment was aligned 
witli ours. When we came to investigate, the Twentieth 
practically joined the Twenty-seventh on the right, only a 
small space separating the two. 

Xo other incident is remembered as occurring during 
the night. The next day. May 2nd, dawned clear and beau- 
tiful. No signs of an enemy were visible. The night before, 
however, soon after all had become still, and we were de- 
bating in our minds whether to keep awake or run all risks 
and go to sleep, not much over a mile from us, the two rebel 
leaders, Lee and Jackson, sitting upon two cracker boxes, 
had consulted and agreed upon a plan which would greatly 
artect our surroundings before night. This plan was that Jack- 
son should, this morning, take twenty-five thousand men. 
march entirely around the right wing of our army, and strike 
it a hard blow from the flank and re.ir. 

It was designed, of course, that this movement should be 
entirelv concealed from our authorities. But Providence was 
on our side, and our people were to have abundant warning, if 
wise enough to heed it. Even before we had finished our 
modest breakfasts, it was discovered that a column of the 
enemy was crossing an opening, a little over a mile from us. 
^Vith the naked eye w-e could see the glint of their gunbarrels 
and the white covers of their wagons. The opening was 
slightly to our left, but the direction of the movement was 
plainly toward our right. 

A section of artillerv was brought immediately in front 
of the Twenty-seventh and began tiring upon the moving 
rebel column. The shells went swishing towards them, and 
we could see some of them explode in their midst. There 
would be a temporary break in the column, as though it had 
stopped, or was going by some other route. Sometimes the 
men and teams would go on the run, while passing the open- 
ing. That was all. Shortly, the column would be moving as 
before. 



TWKN rV-SEVEXTH INDIANA. 819 

As usual, it was not long until ditTercnt minors were in 
circulation, concerning this rebel movement. I'rominent 
among them was the one which, unfortunately, seems to have 
had the preference with the commanding general. This was 
that the enemy was retreating. Right then and there, we 
heard of the dispatch, sent by Hooker to Sedgewick, having 
this import. 

The men of the Twenty-seventh put in most of the fore- 
noon building a line of breastworks at this point, w'here w^e 
had come so hastily. Some of them had, in fact, begun the 
work in the night or early morning. To the rails furnished 
by the old fence, poles, logs and such other materials as were 
available were added, until it all constituted something 
rather formidable. 

About noon Birney's division was ordered to make a 
reconnoissance in force, out in the direction where the mov- 
ing rebel column could be seen. In going out it passed across 
the front of our position. The Tw^entieth Indiana was in the 
lead. The company containing some of the writer's boyhood 
chums was on the skirmish line. With breathless interest we 
watched them as they moved down the cleared slope, crossed 
the creek and disappeared in the thick brush of the blutY 
beyond. They were not tired upon until about the time they 
passed out of sight. From that time on skirmishing was 
active. We remained deeply interested spectators, or at least 
listeners, while Birney's men w-ere pushing farther and farther 
out. until orders came for us to move also. 

h must have been nearh' or quite 8 : 00 P. M. when our 
division began moving, to the left of the direction taken by 
Birney. This was almost directly to the left of where we then 
were. The deployment of the division was slow. When com- 
pleted we advanced in line of battle very cautiously. We 
soon found ourselves immersed in a growth of bushes and 
vines almost impenetrable. \\'ith frecjucnt halts and patient 
readjustments, it was impossible to preserve an alignment or 
keep the direction, as it was almost so to make any headway. 
We must have worked our wav about a half a mile into 
this jungle. Our skirmishers were in unusually close contact 
with those of the enemy. Musket balls were singingover our 
heads and zipping among the limbs. It looked as though we 
might be again on the point of a bloody engagement ourselves. 
Those in the main line could see no enemy. 



320 HISTOltV OF THE 

All at once, almost wholly unannounced by any picket 
firing, a furious, raging battle broke out directly behind us. 
We now know that it v/as a mile or more away, but it did 
not then seem so far. Not only the musketry firing, but the 
yelling and cheering, were borne to us with vivid distinctness. 
Presently there was a cessation in the firing and other sounds, 
to be renewed very soon, if possible, more desperate as well 
as more prolonged, than before. 

For awhile we supposed this fire in the rear was something 
duly provided for. Then we began to have unpleasant mis- 
givings, because it was evident that the reports of the guns 
and all the accompanying noises were becoming more and 
more distinct, as if our side might be giving ground. Our mis- 
givings were increased, if not confirmed, when we received 
an order to about-face and move back. After receiving this 
order all previous caution as to forms was abandoned. S mply 
doing the best we could to keep our regimental front in fair 
alignment we moved back briskly, straight toward the firing. 

In this retrograde movement the Twenty-seventh reached 
tlie cleared ground northward of where it had left it. The 
impression of the writer has always been that our's was the 
first regiment of William's division to debouch from the woods. 
At least it was quite a few minutes before we heard or saw 
anything of the other regiments of our brigade. 

As we emerged from the thick bushes, what a sight 
awaited us! It simply beggars all discription, and tlie writer 
will not attempt one. .Suffice it to say, that the unfortunate 
stampede of the Eleventh Corps, caused by the attack of 
Jackson, mentioned above, was now before us. The clearing 
just that the point was not wide. Out of the timber, opposite 
us, a confused, mob-like mass of men was pouring, and it bore 
down upon us. In it were soldiers of all ranks, of all branches 
of the service and of many commands. They were entiiely 
without order, did not know where they were going and did 
not seem to care for anything, onl}' to get farther away from 
danger. Utterly deaf, alike to commands or appeals, wholly 
oblivious to all sense of either honor or shame, 'aghast and 
terror stricken, heads bare and panting for breath," ranting, 
screaming, blaspheming, many of them bawling like babies, they 
were, for the time being, a vast horde of galloping idiots. 

It was a supreme moment for the Twenty-seventh. 
Would it be overwhelmned and carried away b}" the awtul 



TWENTV-SEVENTir INDIANA. 



321 



tide, as some good regiments doubtless were? IIow could 
So few stand alone, among so many? 

But Colonel Colgrove was a man for an emergency like this. 
Without a moinentis hesitation he did two things which, of 
all others, were the right ones to do. With tremendous reso- 
lution and Hrmness he forbade any of the fugitives from pass- 




ing tlirough our ranks; and, at the same lime, called for the 

guides, upon which to dress our line. These two masterly 

provisions not onh- preserved our ranks unbroken, bringing 

the company commanders to tiie front to assist in doing it, but 
21 



822 HISTORY OF THE 

also gave the men something to do and think about. This 
was in connection, of course, with the Colonel's exertions men- 
tioned by Comrade Bresnahan. He says, ''Colonel Colgrove 
was equal to the emergency. He stood in his saddle-stirrups 
and shouted, in a voice as loud as a steam whistle, " Steady 
John! Whoa, boys. Steady, boys! Whoa, John.' The Colo- 
nel's horse was named John, but he and the 'boys' under- 
stood the commands all right, and acted accordingly." 

The eflForts and example of the other officers of the regi- 
ment, each in his sphere, was equally conspicuous for prudence 
and courage. The Twenty-seventhr as a whole, was simply 
perfect in its self-control and discipline. There "was glory 
enough for all. Not a soldier in the regiment wavered. Not 
one flinched! In the midst of that cyclone of panic, rout and 
terror, the markers took the positions indicated, the first ser- 
geants aligned upon them, and, one, by one the companies 
moved up and dressed as usual. It was like clock work. And, 
being thus formed, the line stood, unmoved and unmovable, 
through it all ! 

Before the stampeded forces in front had been entirely 
turned asside, a more appalling danger of a similar nature 
threatened us for a while. A battery or two of artillery, and 
perhaps a squadron of cavalry, had been massed and were 
standing at attention, on a rise of ground to our left and front. 
At a certain juncture, without any previous signs of uneasi- 
ness, the whole force broke apart and started down the hill, 
directlv toward us, like a huge avalanche. The prospect was 
very threatening for a moment. Men can hope to defend 
themselves against other men, but they have a poor chance 
against maddened horses, hooked up to cannon and battery 
wagons. Fortunately there was at the foot of the hill a creek 
or gully which saved us. While we were debating in our 
minds how best to parry the alarming blow we saw that it 
could not reach us. Some of the leading horses plunged head- 
long into the depression, and others rolled over upon them, 
while still others wheeled to the right or left and disappeared. 
The battery wreckage' which Colonel Colgrove speaks of in 
his report, doubtless came from this source. 

The Twenty-seventh had struck the clearing slightly north 
of where the fields of the Fairview farm corner with those of 
the Hazelgrove farm. When the men of the Eleventh Corps 
had mostly passed by, we moved across the clearing and 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 823 

formed along the run, which crosses the road west of Chan- 
cellorsville and courses along the western edge of Fairview. 
It was sundown, or after, when we came out of the timber 
and saw the disaster that had befallen our right wing. It was 
growing dark before the remnants had entirely passed us. 
Momentarily we expected the enemy to appear. This he did 
not do in force, though small parties of scouts or skirmishers 
came in view more than once. Each time a few shots from 
our side sent them scampering away. 

About the time we moved across the clearing and formed 
along the little run, the memorable work of the Union artillery 
in stopping Jackson's assault was begun. Just before it 
opened, and while some fragments of the stampeded corps 
were still passing, General Sickles rode up to the Twenty- 
seventh and inquired for the commanding ofHcer. Finding 
Colonel Colgrove, he complimented him and his men very 
highly, but not by the use of the Doxology in long metre. 
Rising in his saddle-stirrups he said, " Colonel, you have the 
blankest, blankety blank regiment, by blank, that I ever saw 
or expect to see, etc., etc." He then explained that the 
artillery of his corps was massed on the heights of Hazelgrove 
farm, and was about to open on the enemy; that their posi- 
tion, being on our left, if we did not hold the ground we 
occupied, his guns could not remain where they were and 
would likely be captured, as his infantry had not yet been 
posted to support them. The Colonel assured him, also by 
a liberal use of blanks, that we would hold our position, 
and that he could depend upon it. The boys confirmed the 
assurances of the Colonel, of course, by the usual cheering. 

The cannonading, when it was going at full tide, was as 
heavy and as dreadful in every way as any we ever heard. There 
were not as many guns in action as at Gettysburg, two months 
later, but, in the atmospheric conditions peculiar to that May 
evening, with all the shot hurled into thick timber, only a few 
rods distant, and the shells cut with short fuses, a thousand 
harrowing, terrifying noises were multiplied and reechoed, 
over and over again. The Twenty-seventh was also between 
the two groups of batteries, quite near to and rather in front 
of both. On the heights of Fairview, and between that and 
the road, were almost fifty pieces, mostly belonging to our 
corps. They fired directly over our heads or slightly to our 
right. At Hazelgrove were nearly as many more pieces, 



TWKNTV-SEVENTir INDIANA. 325 

which were delivering their lire diagonally across our front, 
or a little to our left. vSo we got the full benefit of the un- 
earthly, indescribable roar and commotion of the seventy or 
eighty cannon, all operated to their utmost capacity, pouring 
canister, shell and solid shot into those doomed woods, for 
almost an hour. 

All in all, this was a day and evening pregnant v>"ith 
events. We could not feel sure at any time that we were not 
on the verge of a nasty battle. Everything around xis to-night 
was in a condition of greater or less uncertainty and confusion. 
There was a constant effort observable everywhere to readjust 
matters, as well as an unusual determination on the part of 
all that, come what might, the rebel host should not break 
through the Union line at that point. 

It is due, however, to the soldiers of the Eleventh Corps 
to say that all of them were not seized with panic. Many of 
us well remember the line officer, referred to by Colonel Col- 
grove in his report, who joined the Twenty-seventh with 
nearly 200 men, and remained with us through a part of the 
battle, the following day. It is to be regretted that his name 
was not taken down. The Colonel gives his regiment as the 
One Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania, which is probably an 
error, as that regiment did not belong to the Eleventh Corps. 
There were other officers also, with a less number of men, 
who came and begged the privilege of remaining with us, 
that they might have an opportunity of demonstrating that 
they were ready to do their duty. Many individual enlisted 
men likewise preferred the same request. Most of these left 
us during the night, after matters had quieted down, to rejoin 
their commands, some of them taking certificates from our 
officers, showing where they had been. 

It was amusing at the time, and furnished one of the 
staple sources of fun in the regiment, for the remainder of our 
service, to note, in the Colonel's replies to the numerous in- 
quires, how fast his command was increasing, as the result of 
others joining us. Owing to the confusion and darkness, 
many staff' officers and orderlies, in hunting for various com- 
mands and endeavoring to find how matters stood, were 
obliged to ask wliat trpops occupied the position we held, and 
how many there were of us. To the question, " Who is in 
command here?" the Colonel's invariable reply was," I am, 
by blank." To the question, "How many men have your" 



326 HISTORY OF THE 

his reply at first was, "One regiment." But he began modi- 
fying this reply when his command began to increase. When 
he finally picked up two pieces of artillery, or " Captured a 
battery,'' as the boys always expressed it, he uniformly 
answered, " Two regiments of infantry and a battery of 
artillery," 

The men of the Twenty-seventh remember well the night 
attack made upon the rebels, by men from the Third Corps. 
There was considerable claimed for this at the time, and some- 
thing is still said about it. Those of us who had the best 
opportunity of observing it do not believe it accomplished 
anything permanent, beyond the recovery of a small amount 
of arms and equipments, abandoned by our soldiers in their 
hasty withdrawal, and the waking up of both armies. This 
last it did very etTectually. 

The deployed column, or heavy skirmish line, which 
made the attack, started forward, not five rods in front of our 
position. It came from some point south of us, probably 
at or near Hazelgrove farm. Marching by the flank, par- 
allel with our line, until it arrived squarely in front of where 
we were, at the command, it faced left, towards the enemy, 
and moved straight in that direction. The writer was wide 
awake at the time and remembers the affair distinctly, in 
many of its details. General Williams complains that he had 
not been notified of the proposed attack, but the men of the 
Twenty-seventh were duly notified. We had been doubly 
cautioned, lest we might fire into those engaged in the attack 
on our side. The night was not very dark, though a little 
foggy. We could see the men for a considerable distance, 
after they started forward, and could hear everything they 
said or did. The attack could not have been any suprise to 
the enemy. It seemed to us to be unnecessarily noisy. The 
commands of the officer in charge could easily be heard a mile. 

After facing toward the enemy the line advanced only a 
short distance before it was fired upon, and forthwith pande- 
monium was unloosed. A letter written by General Williams 
a few days after the occurrence has been preserved, and gives 
a very accurate and spirited pen-picture of the affair, as it 
appeared to us, as well as others of our division. He says: 
"A tremendous roll of infantry fire, mingled with yellings 
and shoutings, almost diabolical and infernal, opened the con- 
flict on the part of Sickles" di\ision. For some time mv infan- 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 327 

try and artillery kept silent, and in tiie intervals of the mus- 
ketry I could distinctly hear the oaths and imprecations of the 
rebel officers, evidently having hard work to keep their men 
from stampeding. In the meantime Sickles' artillery opened, 
firing over the heads of the infantry, and the din of arms and 
the inhuman yellings and cursings redoubled. All at once 
Berry's division, across the road on our right, opened in heavy 
volleys, and Knipe (commanding my right brigade, next to 
the road on the south) followed suit. Best (Williams' chief 
of artillery) began to thunder with his thirty odd pieces. In 
front and on the flank shell and shot aid bullets were poured 
into these woods, which were evidently crowded with rebel 
masses, preparing for the morning attack. I can conceive of 
no spectacle more magnificently, and indeed awfully, grand 
and sublime than this night attack. Along our front and 
Sickles' flank probably 15,000 or more musketry were belching 
an almost incessant stream of flame, while from the elevations 
just in the rear of each line from forty to fifty pieces of artil- 
lery kept up an uninterrupted roar, re-echoed from the woods 
with redoubled echo from the bursting shells, which seemed 
to fill every part of them with fire and fury. Human language 
can give no idea of such a scene — such an infernal and yet 
sublime combination of sound and flame and smoke, and 
dreadful yells of rage, of pain, of triumph, or of defiance. 
Suddenly, almost on the instant, the tumult is hushed. Hardly 
a voice can be heard. One would almost suppose that the 
combatants were holding breath to listen for one another's 
movements. But the contest was not renewed." 

Some accounts of this attack represent that the men on 
our side went in with their muskets uncapped, and did their 
work wholly with the bayonet. Whether such statements 
sound well or not, they do not accord with the facts. 
The men behaved most creditably' in all respects, as far as we 
were able to judge, but they did not do their work wholly 
with the beyonet. 

There are instances also, where accounts confuse this 
night attack with the tremendous cannonading previously 
mentioned here, accompanied with some severe musketry fir- 
ing, by which the rebel column, which had stampeded the 
Eleventh Corps, was brought to a halt, and, in connection 
with which vStonewall Jackson received his mortal wound. 
These two phases of the clash of arms at Chancellorsville, 



328 HISTORY OF THE 

though resembling each other in some of their features, most 
prominently, perhaps, in the part which our batteries took- in 
both, were separate and distinct. The assault led by Jackson 
was brought to a standstill shortly after dark. Our batteries 
opened just as soon as they dared without danger to our own 
stampeded troops. The night attack occurred later. It must 
have been nearly or quite midnight when it took place. 

If, as is claimed, the line making this night attack 
advanced to the abandoned breastworks, built a day or two 
previously by Williams' division, and which, after running 
south, perpendicular to the plank road, for some .distance, 
curved back toward Ilazelgrove farm, it was very unfortunate 
that they were not held. That is where our division line of 
battle should have been, on the morning of May 3d, As it 
was, no ground was permanently gained by the night attack. 
The troops making it were soon withdrawn from in front of 
us, leaving us to form the front line, and ^ve remained exactly 
where we stood before the attack was made. 

This must have been a busy and trying time for the 
higher officers. They seemed to be engaged the livelong 
night, in zealous efforts to obtain an understanding of the 
situation, which had been so materially changed about dark, 
and in making preparations for the fateful morning which was 
so swiftly approaching. The men in the ranks had little 
sleep. Squatting in our places, with our guns in our hands, 
we barely lost consciousness for brief intervals. Picket firing 
and discharges of artillery were frequent throughout the 
night. The whippoorwills made the air resonant with their 
plaintive calls, other wild birds occasionally contributing a 
sharp, startling note. 

In the night, or early in the morning, our line moved for- 
ward a few rods, crossing to the west bank of the run which, 
as stated before, borders the clearing known as Fairview on 
the west. This higher ground, in the angle between this run 
and the other one of similar size, which comes from the west 
and unites with this near by, is scarcely a '• knoll,"' though it 
is referred to in many reports as such. It is only slightly 
higher than the ground immediately around it. Here, in a 
space of two or three acres, the Twenty-seventh was to engage 
the enemy, for not less than four hours, almost continuously, 
in a determined and bloody encounter. 

At first the Twenty-seventh faced both south and west, 



TWENTV-SEVKNTII INDIANA. 421* 

though possibly the hirger part faced south. That portion of 
the regiment facing south was behind the line of log breast- 
works or parapet, partly built by the regiment two days be- 
fore, and afterward finished by others. The men facing west 
had no defenses in front of them. The line upon which they 
were formed was continued on northward, by the Second 
Massachusetts and Third Wisconsin, of our brigade, and the 
regiments of the First Brigade, of our division. 

The sloping ground between this position of the Twenty- 
seventh and Ilazelgrove farm, to the southward, was covered 
at this time with a very dense growth of small trees and 
bushes. It was impossible to see into them, even a short dis- 
tance. To the westward, however, in the direction towards 
which most of the brigade faced, and towards which the whole 
of our own regiment was soon to face, the ground, for two or 
three hundred yards, and perhaps more, was what used to be 
called in Indiana, an " oak opening." It was rather level and 
covered with small, close-barked white oak trees, w^th very 
little underbrush. In many places, by stooping down a little, 
to get below the limbs of the timber that stood in the lower 
places, one could see through a vista of trees for a quarter of 
a mile or more. 

There was a slight fog when the morning of May 8d 
finally dawned. This delayed movements somewhat, but it 
was still early when the enemy's skirmishers began to press 
forward. They kept mostly under cover for a while, though 
aggressively working their way close up to our position. The 
timber favored them in this, and many minie balls whistled 
and sang around us, or struck something or somebody with a 
zip, when we could see no enemy. 

The first attack in force, in our vicinity, was at Hazel- 
grove farm, soon after sunrise. It seems that a Union brigade 
was left there as a sort of decoy, as was said at the time, and 
was to be withdrawn if attacked. It was a high compliment 
to the men of the Twelfth Corps that they should be trusted 
to stand in a second emergency of this nature. The matter 
was not explained to us beforehand and was not encouraging 
after our experience of the evening before. The timber be- 
tween our position and Hazelgrove preventing us from seeing 
anything of the combat. After a brief firing of musketry, 
which we could hear distinctly, our troops fell back. The 
larger part passed around to our left, some distance from us. 



330 HISTORY OF THE 

A regiment or two, however came, pellmell through the bushes, 
and passed through our ranks. They were not panic stricken 
or demoralized, as those of the day previous, yet in little if 
any better order. Part of them were zouaves, having baggy 
red pants, and phez caps, with long tassels. 

Barely an instant after these retreating troops had gone 
to the rear, a column of the enemy swept grandly around the 
point of timber to our left and front. Two lines deep, in 
splendid order, they moved down the slope on quick time. 
Their line of direction carried them slightly to our left. The 
first fire of the Twenty-seventh was delivered almost as a 
solid volley. Before we had fired more than twice each, our 
forces farther to the left opened also. This combined fire was 
too deadly for mortal man to withstand. It could not have 
been more than ten minutes, and did not seem that long, 
before every standing rebel had vanished. But the sloping 
hillside had the appearance of having had many wagon loads 
of rusty, grey rags brought and dumped upon it in heaps. 
These were the helpless forms of the killec. and wounded 
left behind. 

This attack was by Archer's brigade, the same that had 
punished us severely at Cedar Mountain. We had at last 
got our revenge in good measure. General Archer, after de- 
scribing, in his report, his attack upon our troops which were 
withdrawn, as noted above, continues: "After a few 
moments' halt, to reform our line,wliich had become somewhat 
broken by its rapid advance through the wood, I proceeded to 
attack the wood which I have mentioned as lying diagonally 
to the front and right. My brigade, which was at the begin- 
ing only fourteen hundred strong, and entirely unsupported, 
attacked with great intrepidity ; but the position was strongly 
entrenched, and manned by vastly greater numbers, and we 
were forced to retire froni within seventy yards of the en- 
trenchments. We again formed and advanced to the attack, 
and were again forced to retire." 

The troops to the left of the Twenty-seventh, which 
assisted in the repulse of Archer, were the Twentieth Connect- 
icut and One Hundred and Forty-fifth New York. Archer's 
statement concerning the "vastly greater numbers " on our 
side, may be taken as an example of how much truth there is, 
as a rule, in such claims. He says he onl}' had '• fourteen 
hundred strong " at the beginning, and there is nothing to 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 381 

show that he had lost more than a few up to that time. If, 
however, he had as many as 1,000 men in line, he had the 
equal, man for man, of all who iired a gun into his ranks, or 
who were in a position to do so. We had some wooden de- 
fenses it is true, if not "entrenchments," as he alleges, and, 
owing to the location of our line, if not to the soldiers occu- 
pying it, three times his force of the best troops on earth 
would only have been slaughtered. The Twenty-seventh 
from its position could pour a raking fire into his ranks, that 
meant certain destruction to those in them. The second attack 
mentioned by Archer, was hardly worthy of the name. His 
men barely advanced far enough to draw our fire, then made 
haste to fall back again. 

After Archer's repulse there was a lull for a few minutes, 
though skirmishers concealed in the timber south of us 
again annoyed us considerably. Several of the Twenty-seventh 
were hit at this time. 

A most determined and bloody encounter was at hand, 
however. Off through the oak woods to the west of us, 
another rebel column soon came in sight. Advancing to 
perhaps within 800 yards of our position, and climbing over 
the abandoned breastworks which were at that point, they 
were mostly concealed from us for a while by a depression in 
the ground. Nothing but their flags and some of their gleam- 
ing bayonets projected up into view. Presently we saw the 
flags moving up and down, with a quick, regular motion, and 
we knew that they were charging upon us, double-quick. The 
ascent was so gradual that it seemed an age, as we stood at a 
ready, before their persons were visible. First we could see 
their hats, then their faces, then their shoulders, etc. They 
were the best dressed, tidiest and most soldierly-looking lot of 
rebels that we ever saw ; and their splendid courage and mili- 
tary precision will command our profound admiration forever. 
The writer took more careful note of these things because his 
station, towards the left of the regiment as it was then formed, 
prevented him and those near him from taking part in the 
combat, until later. 

As the forms of the enemy appeared over the slight ridge 
a crackling fire was opened upon them, growing heavier as 
they approached. The gaps thus made in their ranks were 
speedily closed, however, and their line came steadily on. 
Those members of the Twenty-seventh who were in posi- 



TWENTY-SEVKNTII INDIANA. 333 

tion to take part in the lirint^ were consideraaly distracted 
lest we, who were rather behind them, might lire into them. 

The Second Massachusetts, to our right, was lying down 
at the time, or partially so, and did not seem to take much 
part in the tiring until the enemy's line was witliin one hun- 
dred yards or less. Then, at the command, the men of the 
Second arose to their knees and coolly delivered a most scath- 
ing volley, after which they continued to load and fire with 
marked effectiveness. The enemy staggered and hesitated 
when exposed to the full fire from our side, but continued to 
advance. At about this time the command was given for the 
Twenty-seventh to gain ground to the right, double-quick, 
which should have been done earlier. This gave us all a chance 
to take an untrammeled part in the fray. 

And now began a drama of war which for cool, deliber- 
ate action and resolute, unflinching endurance, on both sides, 
has had few parallels anywhere. Both lines stood out in open 
ground, the few scattering trees affording scant protection. 
There was no perceptible dilTerence either way in numbers. 
When the enemy finally came to what was practically a 
stand-still, the two antagonists were not more than seventy- 
five yards apart, and may have been nearer. Both loaded 
and fired their muskets as fast as they possibly could. In 
the ranks of both, brave men fell with heartrending ra; idity.- 
The colors on both sides changed hands almost as fast as 
men could handle them. Sometimes they were not raised 
to a perpendicular after being down before the fearless arm 
that had essayed to do it was nerveless in death. At first 
there was cheering on both sides, but soon all that ceased. 
All time, all thought and all effort came to be concentrated 
upon barely one thing. With high-wrought, supreme earn- 
estness, and with a savage, fiendish purpose, all strained them- 
selves to the very utmost to wound and kill. 

This close, murderous contest continued for a solid half 
hour. For once, there is a substantial agreement in all quar- 
ters as to this. Then, whether from superior endurance in 
Northern character, or lack of opportunity for Southern dash, 
or whether some other circumstance turns the scale, the enemy 
begin to withdraw. They give ground very slowly, almost 
imperceptibly, at first, and they never break into a run. But 
their backs being finally turned they move more rapidly, and are 
soon practically out of range. They fell back 1o the unoccu- 



334 HISTORY OF THE 

pied breastworks, near where they had crossed them in their 
advance. 

It seemed to us all at the time, a serious mistake that we 
did not follow up our advantage and make a counter charge. 
When the enemy first began to retire a prompt assault on our 
part, we all believed, would have given us their colors, which 
at that moment were lying on the ground, well in front of 
their line, and a goodly number of prisoners. A charge was 
was not ordered, however, and none was made. 

After the enemy had withdrawn we gained more ground 
to the right, and eventually advanced a short distance to the 
front. This was to readjust our ranks and correct our align- 
ment. We had barely time to make this slight preparation 
when another column of the enemy appeared in view, advanc- 
ing to engage us. This kept on the farther side of the aban- 
doned breastworks, before mentioned, but followed their direc- 
tion and moved around to our left. It finally came over the 
breastworks, or a part of it did, a short distance, but soon 
recrossed them again and took shelter behind them. In the 
position we now occupied these breastworks ran diagonally 
across our front. The left of the Twenty-seventh was per- 
haps sixty yards from them, and the right one hundred yards. 

When the enemy at length settled themselves behind this 
log parapet, there began another unusual transaction. If the 
writer's researches among the reports and histories of the war, 
and the accounts that he has had from other soldiers as to their 
experiences, have not been at fault, it was quite unusual. The 
Twenty-seventh stood out there in open ground and, with the 
assistance of the regiments farther to the right (though their 
efforts were largely required on their own front) kept up such 
a close, scathing fire upon the men behind those breastworks 
as eventually to silence them, — until they no longer dared 
expose themselves enough to return our fire. In the phrase- 
ology of the modern cowboy, we "got the drop on them.'' At 
first it seemed that most of them had the courage that the sit- 
uation required. As fast as they could load their muskets 
they rose up, took good aim, and fired. Then they dropped 
down again to reload. But we were able to pick them off so 
unerringly when exposed that they came to consider it too 
hazardous, and subsided. 

Evidently some were too courageous to yield until tliey 
were hurt. One, in particular, many of us remember. lie 



TWKNTV-SEVENTH INDIANA. 335 

was a large man, with a Iiigh, white hat, and a hirge roll of 
blankets around his shoulders. After the firing began to de- 
crease perceptibly on the rebel side, despising all danger, as 
fast as this man could load his gun, his bulky form appeared 
above the logs, and his aim was very deliberate. It was be- 
lieved that his shots were every one effective. But his conduct 
could not fail to attract attention, and more and more of our 
boys " laid for him." There were doubtless other instances 
similar to this one. 

Later in the war we got to putting head logs on our 
breastworks. The body of a good sized tree was placed on 
the top, with an opening between it and the logs below, 
through which we could point our muskets and shoot. For- 
tunately this had not been done in this case. We could see 
the rebels frequently hold their muskets up at arms length and 
fire, without exposing their bodies. Those shots usually went 
wild. There was, doubtless, some chance also to shoot through 
or between the logs, as several of our men were hit, while we 
stood watching, after all firing over the works had ceased. 

This contest at the breastworks continued more than an 
hour. At length Colonel Colgrove assumed the responsibility 
of ordering a charge, having in vain ridden in search of General 
Ruger previously. The charge should certainly have been 
made before it was. We put on our bayonets, and, as our 
line swept forward, a line of men belonging to Sickles' corps, 
having come up in our rear, advanced also. They were two 
or three rods behind us. 

The enemy could not have been fully aware of our ap- 
proach. They did not rise up until we were within a few 
feet of the works. We had even become suspicious that they 
had somehow spirited themselves away and were not there. 
When they did rise most of them surrendered without further 
ado. A small number of them foolishly attempted to escape 
by running, and were simply shot down, like pot-shotted 
game. The writer saw one such, hit between the shoulders, 
who could not have been more than ten feet from the one who 
did the shooting. 

Colonel Colgrove estimates the number of prisoners taken 
at this time at from one hundred and fifty te two hundred. 
Unintentionally he does his regiment and himself as well an 
injustice, by saying that the prisoners were captured for the 
reason that they became entangled in the abattis, or slashed 



88(3 IllsrOUV OK THE 

timber, which of course was on their side of the works. On 
the contrary, they surrendered solely because the Twenty- 
seventh advanced upon them at a charge bayonet, with loaded 
muskets. They knew that to attempt to run or resist meant 
death. 

We remained at the breastworks some minutes and then 
were ordered to resume our place in the line. The explanation 
of this retrograde move appears in Colonel Colgrove's report 
quoted further along. lie did not deem it prudent to remain 
there, after the object he had in view w^as accomplished. 

In connection with this return to our former line, there 
was a transaction, the recollection of which has always 
brought both sad and bitter thoughts to our minds. When 
we arrived at the breastworks, in addition to those rebels who 
surrendered, a large number were lying there who had the 
appearance of being dead or wounded. The question was 
raised among us as to whether all those who were sighing and 
groaning as if they were badly hurt, were really so, and in 
fact, wdiether some of those who appeared to be dead were not 
■' playing possum." A few of tiie sterner and more unsympa- 
thetic ones among us were in favor of harsh measures, to test 
some of the most suspicious cases. In one instance, a soldier 
near the writer, insisted that he had discovered a rebel lying 
in front of him, simulating the symptoms of being stone dead, 
squinting out of the corner of his eye to see what we were 
doing. It was with much difficulty that the soldier could be 
restrained from putting a bullet into the prostrate form of 
the rebel. Humanity seemed to dictate, however, that these 
prone, defenseless bodies, most of which were unquestionably 
in need of pitv and kindness, should all have the benefit of 
reasonable doubt. None of them, therefore, w'ere molested. 

But the secjuel was infamous. When we turned our 
backs, some of these miscreants, w'ho doubtless had heard our 
contention over their cases and knew that mercy and fellow 
feeling had triumphed in their behalf, now seized ther mus- 
kets and shot into our ranks, killing, in one or two instances, 
the very men, who, a moment before, had begged to have 
them, or others in their condition, spared. The courageous, 
high-minded men of the Twenty-seventh, whom by such foul, 
treacherous means, w'e lost at that time, we have never ceased 
to mourn in a peculiarly distressing wa}'. On the other hand, 
our sentiments toward those who could or would be guilty of 



TWENTV-SE\ENTH INDIANA. 887 

waging war in the manner these few rebels did, had better 
not be expressed. Few of us can believe that their conduct 
was approved by any large number of the proud, soldierly 
men who confronted us that memorable day, on that gory 
field. 

The troops making the iirst attack from the west, follow- 
ing the attack from the south by Archer's men, were of Mc- 
Gowan's brigade, four regiments, all South Carolinians. 
They were the First Rilles, and the First, Thirteenth and 
Fourteenth Volunteers. The Twelfth South Carolina Volun- 
teers also belonged to the brigade, but was not engaged, being 
on other duty. The regiments were in line from their right 
(our left) in the order named. This brought the Rifles and 
the Twenty-seventh in conflict with each other. Many facts 
mentioned in the report of its commander are distinctly 
remembered by the men of our regiment. About the time the 
rebel line reached its point of farthest advance, and were find- 
ing it difficult to make headway against such a withering fire 
as was being poured into it, their color-bearer, who was evi- 
dently a determined, resolute soldier, forged forward, well in 
front of all others, and, waving the flag vigorously in our very 
faces, motioned his comrades to come on. We noted his heroic 
conduct and no soldier could help but admire such gallantry ; 
yet such a leader in the ranks of the foe rendered victory for 
us more doubtful, so we rejoiced to see him and his flag both 
go down, almost on the instant. Of this the Colonel says : 
" Serg. L. R. Wardlaw, of Company B, siezed the colors and 
bore them far to the front, placing them in the face of a 
destructive fire from the enemy, and calling on the regiment 
to follow. While bearing them with such conspicuous gal- 
lantry he fell, it is feared, mortally wounded." 

We also saw their colors fall several other times after 
this. At length they were left lying on the ground for some 
seconds. Just then the retrograde movement was perceptible 
and, for an instant, it appeared as if they might be going to 
leave their colors behind. But a soldier dashed back later 
and recovered them. lie came in a stooping posture and 
returned in the same manner, apparently dragging the colors 
after him. They were not again raised to a perpendicular, 
and we often wondered why they were not. As to this inci- 
dent the report says : '• While the regiment was retiring, Capt. 

|. T. Robertson, of Companv B, who was assisting our then 
22 



888 nisTOHY OK the 

wounded colonel, seeing the colors fall near him, ordered 
a soldier passing by, and who proved to be a member of the 
First South Carolina Volunteers, to carry them to the rear. 
The colors were riddled with shot holes and tlic flagstaff was 
shivered in several places." 

The second line of the enemy which advanced against 
this point was Colston's brigade, composed of three Virginia 
regiments and two from North Carolina. This brigade failing 
to make headway against Ruger's brigade, another, Paxton's, 
was ordered up also. This was the celebrated '• Stone Wall 
Brigade " — all Virginians. The First South Carolina Rifles 
and the First South Carolina Volunteers had in the meantime 
been withdrawn, but the remnant of the other two South 
Carolina regiments seem to have remained. So, there were 
now two brigades and a part of another behind those breast- 
works, none of them able to come over more than a short 
distance. 

Additional extracts from reports and other printed state- 
ments, will be given farther on. 

After the charge already mentioned, and we had returned 
to the position we had occupied before it was made, there 
was another period of quiet. We were surprised that there 
was not a vigorous advance ordered along our front at this 
time, as we seemed to have so much the best of the enemy. 
And all through the years we have cherished fond, roseate 
visions of " what might have been," if a strong column had 
been vigorously thrust into this breach in the enemy's line. 
The troops for it were immediately at hand. The other regi- 
ments of our brigade and possibly most of the others of Will- 
iams' division, had been relieved and ordered back. But 
Birney's division, lierotofore mentioned in this narrative, had 
been held close up to Williams' line, and had now relieved 
part of it. They were stalwart, adventurous veterans, eager 
for some opportunity to strike a telling blow, and the men to 
take advantage of a great opportunity. What they might 
have accomplished if hurled in, and wheeling to the right, 
had struck the enemy in the direction of the plank road in 
Hank, will never be known, for it was not done. Only this 
much is certain : many of the great victories of history have 
been won by such means. 

As it was, we stood in line without liring a shot for a 
^hort time and then received orders to withdraw in the direc- 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 339 

tion of Chancelloisville. The immediate reason for the with- 
drawal of the Twenty-seventli seems to have been that we 
had really been relieved by other troops. We mi^ht have 
retired when the other re<^iments of the brigade did, but 
Colonel Colgrove had asked some of the men whether or not 
they wanted to be relieved, and they had said not. So we 
had remained until now. But the troops of Birney's division 
withdrew alon^ with us. The battle had not gone well with 
our forces near the plank road and, instead of bringing for- 
ward more men, of which there ^vas a surfeit, the supine, 
ignominious and disastrous alternative of falling back to a 
new position had been preferred. 

It is droll to read in the reports of brigade and regimental 
commanders of the rebel troops, which seem to have fol- 
lowed us after our retrogade movement began, how they first, 
accuse each other of hugging the breastworks and lying 
behind them six or eight deep, then how each claims a con- 
spicuous part for his command (and incidentally for himself, 
of course) in driving us and those >\nth us, from that vicinity. 
The God's truth is, that while the Twenty-seventh was as much 
driven as other Union troops, we did not even know when 
we started back that there was any considerable force in our 
front. After arriving almost at the lone house, which con- 
stituted the place that gave its name to the battle, looking 
back, we saw a column of rebel infantry following us. Where 
they had come from was something of a mystery to us. 

The Twenty-seventh took no farther active part in the 
battle. Halting in the rear of Chancellorsville for a few min- 
tites, our cartridge boxes were replenished, and we were 
ordered still farther to the rear. 

On the way, but during a short halt, we lost one more 
prominent and worthy member of the regiment. Lieutenant 
Hamrick, of Company A. After being with the regiment 
through the entire engagement of the morning, sharing fully 
its dangers and honors, here, half a mile in the rear, he was to 
have liis name added to the already long list of those who, 
that day, died for their countr}-. A large round shot, which 
had passed high over the heads of our men in front, descending, 
struck him back of the shoulder and, plovving towadrs his op- 
posite hip, killed him instantly. 

It is a satisfaction to note the vast improvement in official 
reports as the war progressed. They became fuller in details, 



340 



HISTORY OF THE 



truer to facts, more just to all, and less boastful. This was 
due doubtless to the weeding out of place hunters and wind- 
bags, as well as to the growing competency of all who re- 
mained. 

It must be insisted, however, that neither .Slocum nor 
Williams, and not even Ruger, give as clear and detailed 
accounts, showing the part taken by the Third Brigade on 
this part of the field of Chancellorsville, as their individual 
observ^ations, and the reports of their regimental commanders, 
should have enabled them to do. The same is true, though to 
a less degree, of the whole of Williams' division, and even 
the wliole of the Twelfth Corps. 




CaPT. W.M. II. IIoLI.OWAV, FlKST-LlKUT. S. S. IIa.mrick, 

Company I. Company A. 

(Killed at Chancellorsville.) 

This is more to be regretted as. being overshadowed by 
the larger corps of Sickles, by which it was at first supported, 
with which it was later intermingled in part, and by which 
most of its regiments were eventually relieved, the Twelfth 
Corps has not, up to this date, been accorded due credit for 
what it did at Chancellorsville. This the writer knows to be 
true. The reason, in a measure, is to be found in the indefi- 
nite statements and unfortunate omissions in the reports of the 
generals named. Even as distinguished and impartial histor- 
ian as the Count of Paris is vague and unintelligible in his 
account of the battle as waged on our part of the field. His 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 841 

many misstatements of fact, reach a climax in a description 
of a charge by one of Sickles' brigades into the exposed flank 
of McGowan's brigade. Nothing could be more certain than 
that this brigade of South Carolinians was wholly put out of 
the fight by Ruger's brigade. Not a soldier of any other com- 
mand fired a shot into their ranks. 

After our previous experiences, it is particularly grati- 
fying to find that our own regiment has no cause of com- 
plaint by reason of the statements of any of the reports. 
We were not more willing to do our whole duty here than at 
other times, and. all things considered, our conduct was no 
more creditable. The crucial test of courage was not equal 
here to that to which we were subjected at Antietam. 

Among several things properly belonging in the report of 
Colonel Colgrove, but not essential to this narrative, he sum- 
marizes the facts as follows : 

" Shortly after sunrise on Sunday morning, the 3d, the enemy, hav- 
ing obtained possession of our breastworks on the right, advanced on our 
line and opened fire. 

" In a very short time the whole line became engaged. The enemy 
-advanced steadily, delivering their fire with telling effect. Our whole line 
stood firm. No part of the line yielded an inch or wavered. The enemy 
poured in regiment after regiment of fresh troops, determined to break 
the line; but whenever or wherever they made their appearance they 
found our fire so deadly that they were forced to halt and seek shelter 
behind the timber and rises in the ground. After the battle had pro- 
gressed an hour or more, my officers notified me that the ammunition was 
running short. I immediately rode up to the right of the line to find you 
(Ruger). I found that all the other regiments were also running short of 
.ammunition. I could not see you, and was informed that Captain Scott, 
assistant adjutant-general, had been wounded and left the field. I im- 
mediately ordered the whole line to fix bayonets and charge, which was 
done in gallant style. The rebels fled before us like sheep, and took 
refuge behind the breastworks and reopened fire upon us. After deliv- 
.ering a few rounds, I ordered a second charge. Our men charged to the 
breastworks on the extreme left of our line. In some instances a regular 
hand-to-hand fight took place. The enemy soon gave way, and, being in 
-our abatis, they were soon thrown into the utmost confusion. While en- 
deavoring to retreat through the brush and tree tops, they became mixed 
up in a perfect jam, our men all the time pouring in the most deadly fire. 
I can safely say that I have never witnessed on any other occasion so 
perfect a slaughter. Many of them made no attempt to get away, but 
threw down their arms and came into our lines. I think I am safe to say 
that we took from 150 to 200 prisoners and sent them to the rear. 

" In short, the enemy at this time had lieen driven from our front, 
.over the breastworks, through the abatis, into the woods beyond, in utter 



842 HISTORY OF THE 

confusion. All this time there was heavy firintij filing on on our right, 
and was fast gaining our rear. I soon ascertained that our forces were 
being driven back. 1 immediately ordered our line to fall back, which it 
did in good order, and formed again on the original line of battle. 

" By this time many of our men were entirely out of anmiunition, and 
but a few rounds remained to any. The enemy were still advancing on 
our right and our forces falling back. At this critical moment I received 
orders from you to fall back in good order, which was done." 

Colonel Colgrove tises strong language in commending 
the other regiments of the brigade. Those who know liini 
will know they were fully earned, otherwise the Colonel would 
never have written them. He was a man of very positive con- 
victions, and, above all things, he hated a coward. He says : 

"To say that the three old regiments — the Second Massachusetts, 
Third Wisconsin and Twenty-seventh Indiana— fully sustained the rep- 
utation they won at Cedar Mountain and Antietam, is the very highest 
compliment that can be paid them. I consider these the three best regi- 
ments I have ever seen in action. 

" I had the opportunity also of witnessing the manner m which the 
One Hundred and Seventh New York and Thirteenth New Jersey 
regiments acquitted themselves during the engagement, and take great 
pleasure in stating that the officers and men behaved handsomely and 
fought bravely. Troops of their experience could scarcely have done 
better." 

Few commanders, as a rule, wrote better reports than 
General Ruger. His reports usually set forth the facts and 
circumstances very fully and clearly, though always brief and 
modest. But, as has been previously stated, when he comes 
to speak, in his report of this battle, of the prolonged and 
determined contest, in which all of his regiments bore such a 
creditable part, namely, the repulse of the formidable and 
repeated assaults of the enemy, which came from a westerly 
direction, during that sanguinary forenoon at Chancellorsville, 
General Ruger seems to lack exact information. After speak- 
ing of the assault bv Archer's rebel brigade and its signal 
repulse, he barely mentions a further advance by the enemy 
and says: "This new assault was checked, and in part b^' 
the bayonet." This statement is not only too brief, but it is 
also somewhat ambiguous. Histories founded upon such 
reports could not be expected to do full justice to the men con 
cerned. 

The omission from General Ruger's report of any reference 
to the charge, led with so much wisdom and spirit by Colonel 



TWENTY-SEVENTH IXDIANA. 843 

Colgrove, is also noticeable. .Such matters were seldom 
omitted from reports where superiors meant to be courteous 
and just to subordinates. ]?ut in the Colonel's modesty the 
General may not have been fully apprised of the facts. 

General Graham, a brigade commander in Birney's divi- 
sion, kindly volunteers some statements in his report, that 
affords pleasant reading for those interested in the Twenty- 
seventh. He says, " I cannot close my report without men- 
tioning the gallant conduct of Colonel Colgrove, of the 
Twenty-seventh Indiana Volunteers, and his men, who formed 
a part of the brigade that we relieved in the woods, during 
the hottest of the fight. Instead of retiring with the rest of 
his brigade, he remained with us until his ammunition was 
entirely exhausted, when he retired in good order. His cool- 
ness under fire and the admirable discipline and steadiness of 
his men cannot receive too much praise.'' 

The official reports of commanders who led the opposing 
forces at Chancellorsville are not lacking in interest, in the 
side lights and incidental confirmations that they furnish to 
this narrative, as well as in stating some facts which we were 
knowing to at the time. 

It provokes a smile to read, in many of these reports, 
rather grandeloquent descriptions of their first occupancy of 
the line of log breastworks, to which reference has frequently 
been made heretofore. They then speak also of advancing 
against " a second line of works." All partisanship aside, 
the unvarnished truth is that, with the exception of General 
Archer, any reference on their part to capturing breast- 
works, or advancing against breastworks, is pure vanity. 
As has been stated, during the conflict with Archer's men, 
a part of the Twenty-seventh stood behind the line of 
log breastworks, built by the Union army (partly by our- 
selves) two days before. But almost nnmediately after 
Archer's final repulse, we moved away from those breast- 
works and, from that time on, not a single Union soldier was 
behind them. The writer knows whereof he speaks. It was 
absolutely no more to " capture," " scale " or ''mount "them 
than any other windrow of logs in a forest. 

And, as for a second line of "defenses" or "breast- 
works," there was none. Even General Willi. ims speaks, in 
his report, of his division " Tln'owing up such defenses of logs 
and earth as was possible, from the scarcity of tools at hand." 



344 IIISTOUV OK THE 

The writer knows this to be an entire mistake, as least as far 
as the Second Massachusetts and Twenty-seventh Indiana was 
concerned. Neither of these regiments prepared a stick or 
clod at this point, and it does not seem possible that the Third 
Wisconsin did either, if indeed any of Williams' division did. 
It is quite curious, as well as a great pleasure, to note 
also how uniformly, and in what positive terms the rebel com- 
manders on this part of the field refer to the severitv of the 
battle, as waged in the vicinity of our position. Colonel 
Hamilton, who commanded McGovvan's brigade after the 
latter was wounded, says, " The brigade soon became very 
hotly engaged, />ar//c///(7r/y tlic two rigJit regiments.'''' Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Harris-on, of the First Rifles, says, " About 
one hundred vards in front of the breastworks, the enemy 
appeared in heavv force o)i our r'tgJity Lieutenant-Colonel 
Brockman, Thirteenth South Carolina, says, " At this point, 
the Thirteenth fought with great coolnesss and gallantry, fir- 
ing steadily under a galling fire of shell, grape, canister and 
spherical case, with ^mall arms, ina'nily on the right.'''' Gen- 
eral Colston, commanding Trimble's division, says, "Col- 
ston's brigade, under Col. T. \". Williams, immediately 
advanced to the support of the lirst line, and became hotly 
engaged. Colonel Williams being wounded and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Walker, who succeeded him in the command of the 
brigade, being killed, the command devolved first on Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Thurston, Third North Carolina, and he being 
wounded, Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, First North Carolina, 
assumed command. Here Colonel McDowell, First North 
Carolina, was wounded and Major Stover, Tenth Virginia, 
was killed. By this time the enemy were advancing in very 
strong force toxvards the right of our tine, and were about 
outflanking us on the right.''' Colonel Nadenbousch, Second 
Virginia, says, " The line occupied by the enemy ran per- 
pendicular to ours, the left resting near the breastworks, and 
about one hundred yards to the right of the position occupied 
by my regiment. At this point the regiment encountered a 
destructive fire of musketry, by which upwards of sixty 
officers and men fell killed and wounded. Here, too, our 
gallant brigadier-general, Paxton, fell mortally wounded, 
near the head of the regiment." Other reports contain 
allusions similar to these quoted. To understand them prop- 
erly, it must be borne in mind that their right was our left. 



TWEN rV-SEVHNTIl INDIANA. 345 

Tlic Third ]>rigade (ours) occupied the extreme left f>f the 
I'uioii line, and confronted the extreme right of the rebel force. 
The Twenty-seventh, being the left regiment in the Union 
line, the Second Virginia was undoubtedly in front of it at 
the time referred to by Colonel Nadenbousch, We see, there- 
fore, that the Twenty-seventh and its valiant and trustworthy 
sister regiments of the Third Brigade seem to have made quite 
a {Positive impression upon the men in gray that morning. 

It has been well said that, while the Union army really 
outnumbered its antagonist in the Chancellorsville campaign, 
more than two to one, yet. the forces on our side were so 
clumsily handled that in every important passage at arms, if 
the sides were not substantially equal, the preponderance was, 
in most cases, in favor of the enemy. This was undoubtedly 
true in every instance w'here the Twenty-seventh participated. 
As already stated, putting the number of Archer's brigade 
even lower than would seem probable from his own statement, 
the number of men actually in position to do execution against 
him, was less than his, rather than greater. 

With reference to the relative strength of McGow'ans' 
brigade and Ruger's, leaving out regiments not engaged, the 
same was true, again. This w^as apparent at the time, to those 
who were in a position to observe the facts. The two lines 
corresponded, both as to length and density, in a curious w-ay. 
In two reports of regimental commanders in McGowan's 
brigade the number cai ried into action is placed at 800 each. 
Both statements are made to indicate the large percentage of 
loss the two regiments sustained. It is not likely, therefore, 
that the estimate was too high. But the number killed and 
wounded in the other two regiments exceeded that of the 
two which gave their whole number as 800 each. So it seems 
reasonable, that they at least equaled the others in numbers, 
before the battle. That would give a total of 1,200 for the 
four regiments of McGowan's brigade, somewhat outnumber- 
ing Ruger's brigade, with the One Hundred and Seventh 
New York and the Thirteenth New Jersey not engaged, as 
they were not, during that part of the battle. 

■Ruger's brigade had the advantage common to all soldiers 
receiving an assault — the delivery of the th-st tire ; and they 
reaped the benefit of it in full, by coolh' waiting until the 
enemy was in good range, then taking deliberate aim. As 
against this, the enemy had the impetus and inthusiasm 



84G HISTORY OP' THE 

gained in a very spirited cliart^e. The least lack of steadiness- 
or discipline among us would have been fatal. 

In the subsequent encounters, on what was almost the 
same ground, if there was any preponderance of numbers, it 
was not on our side. When the One Hundred and Seventh 
New York and Thirteenth New Jersey came into line with 
us the other side was reinforced by Colston's brigade. When 
some of the regiments of Sickles' corps were thrown forward, 
all of Ruger's brigade was withdrawn except the Twenty- 
seventh, and, at this juncture. Paxton's brigade, and probably 
other troops also, arrived to strengthen the enemy. Thus, all 
the way through, on this part of the field, there was no great 
inequality of numbers either way, especially not in our favor. 

After the death of Lieutenant Hamrick. as previously 
narrated, the battle seemed to be raging fiercely again at the 
front, and orders came for the Twenty-seventh to return there. 
It might have been alleged that four hours continuouslv under 
fire, witii the great losses already sustained, was enough to 
exempt the men of the Twenty-seventh from further exposure. 
And the alacritv and enthusiasm with which thev formed 
their sadly depleted ranks, as well as the briskness with 
which they started toward the point of danger, has often been 
a subject of proud recollection to the writer. But the regi- 
ment was not needed. After going a short distance towards 
the front, another halt was ordered, and eventually the men 
spent the night along the road leading to United States Ford, 
perhaps a mile from Chancellorsville. 

The next day we relieved troops of the Eleventh Corps 
in the trenches, at the extreme left of the Union line, where 
it joined the Rappahannock river. Nothing worthy of note 
transpired here, except the shelling of the wagon train parked 
on the north side of the river, by the rebel artillerv. This oc- 
curred early one morning. 

Without knowing it, probably, the rebels also had tiie 
range of our field hospital, which was north of the river in the 
vicinity of the wagon train. There was an immense commo- 
tion for a time among the wounded. Men who had not been 
al)le to walk at all before the sliclls began to fall near them, 
were then able to make a fair out at running. vSome who 
could not walk and could not even crawl, reached places of 
safety by rolling over and over. These things we who were 
with the regiment did not see, of course. The shells were fired 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 



847 



from our immediate front and they passed diagonally across 
our left. 

As so often happened after battles, it rained very hard 
eveiy day for several days, succeeding this battle. Particu- 
larly during the night of the 5th and the morning of the Gth,. 
there was an unusually heavy rainfall. 




■Jsa 
% 

4' 



On this latter morning, slightly after daylight, the Twen- 
ty-seventh moved away from the trenches, and an hour later, 
with our brigade, crossed the river at United States Ford, to 
the north bank. Once over, all the regmients seemed to have 



348 HISTORY OF THE 

orders to move directly, and almost without regard to each 
other, back to their old camps. The rain scarcely ceased for 
a moment all day. Darkness was just coming on when tired, 
wet, bedraggled with mud, sore with disappointment, and 
almost heart-broken over our losses, we reached our old camp, 
filed to the rear by companies into the familiar streets, and dis- 
banded. The campaign symbolized by that one word, that 
one lone brick house in the wilderness — Chancellorsville — was 
at an end. 

The Twenty-seventh lost at Chancellorsville 32 officers 
and men killed and mortally wounded, and 118 officers 
and men wounded. After a protracted and very diligent 
search four names had to be consigned to the " missing" or 
"unaccounted for" column. Later on it was learned that at 
least some of these were killed in our movement away from 
the breastworks, recounted heretofore, and it is believed that 
the whole four were killed or mortally wounded at one stage 
or another of the contest. They did not turn up either among 
the wounded who escaped across the river, or among those 
who were taken prisoners. None of the Twenty-seventh were 
permitted to go over the ground after the battle, so it was 
possible that one who fell killed or mortally wounded un- 
noticed by those near him, should not be identified afterwards. 

The Third Brigade lost in this battle, 7 officers and 74 
men killed, 87 officers and 434 men wounded, and 68 men 
missing. 

The losses of the South Carolina Brigade, as reported by 
Lee's Medical Department, were as follows : Killed 46, 
Avounded 323. 

The same authority gives the following losses : 

Archer's Brigade, killed 42, wounded 280. 

Colston's Brigade, killed 113, wounded 466. 

Paxton's Brigade, killed 49, woufided 438. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



BETWEEN THE BATTLES. 

The iirst night and the first few days after returning to 
our old quarters near .Stafford Court House, the harsh, relent- 
less side of war came home to us closer, perhaps, than at any 
other time during our service. It was our experience after 
Antietam over again, w^ith added and aggravated features. 
The writer has always considered a certain song, extensively 
sung during the war and since, as not only maudlin in senti- 
ment but a libel upon the facts. In dismal, plaintive tones it 
represents the soldier as " Tenting on the old camp ground," 
and "Wishing for the war to cease," with other et ceteras, 
among which "Many are in tears." Every bit of it, except 
the tenting, was and is untrue to life. As the world knows, 
the song was written by a conscript, and an experienced 
soldier can readily imagine what must have been his woe- 
begone, homesick plight at the time. 

But when we turned into our company streets that night 
after returning from Chancellorsville, and set about readjust- 
ing ourselves to former conditions, it required resolute will- 
power to sustain us. The bare facts were so pitiless ! Some 
whole messes were entirely wiped out ; not a man was left to 
claim the deserted hut. In others only one, or perhaps two, 
remained. In all there were shocking vacancies. .Some com- 
panies had no commissioned officers ; others had but one, and 
none had more than two. Those who had endeared them- 
selves by long and capable service and many acts of thoughtful 
kindness, were gone. A roll of thirteen noncommissioned 
officers was reduced, in most cases, to four or five. A com- 
pany, at roll-call, looked like an ordinary detail for guard. 
And those forever lost to us, known to be dead, left unburied 
in the hands of the enemy, henceforth to fill nameless graves, 
and for no good purpose, in many instances were the noblest, 
truest, worthiest of us all. Is it a wonder that it almost broke 
our hearts? 



1350 HISTORY OF THE 

A loss sadly noticed at the time, and one which never 
ceased to be felt, was the breaking up of the glee club of Com- 
pany C. This squad of singers has been mentioned hereto- 
fore. They came into more and more prominence, relatively, 
as our service lengthened. They used to sing " Louisiana Low 
Lands Low,'' "Old Kentucky Home," and other sentimental 
songs, as well as the standard patriotic songs of the time, in a 
delightful way. Many pleasant hours had been passed in 
camp listening to their sweet singing; while the weariness of 
many a toilsome march had been relieved or forgotten, under 
the spell of some ringing song. 

At times when strength seemed about to fail and the 
spirits of all the men were at a low ebb, the Colonel, or some- 
one else, would call for a song. "Where are you, boys, could 
you give us a song.'' " At this, the soprano, whose voice was 
really feminine in its intonation, would start "John Brown," 
or •' Rally the Flag, Boys." Others would take up the strain, 
and all who could sing would join in the chorus, until, from 
one end of the column to the other, would resound a tremen- 
dous volume of melody. And it never failed to help. Feet 
did not feel quite so sore, nor limbs quite so weary ; knapsacks 
and guns did not seem quite so heavy, nor distances quite so 
long. But all this was over after the battle of Chancellors- 
ville! The soprano, a glorious, good soldier, as well as one 
of the brightest, most companionable boys that ever lived, was 
shot through the body and died in a few hours. Two others 
of the glee club were so badly wounded that it practically 
ended their service with the Twenty-seventh. The boys were 
sorely, sorely missed ! 

" O for the sight of a vanished hand, 
And a voice that is forever still ! " 

But duty called ! The next day after our return, by or- 
ders, we had a general cleaning up of camp, arms, clothing 
and equipments. The second day, Williams' division was re- 
viewed by General Slocum. 

Shall it be related that this was the first time that the 
Twenty-seventh was the happy recipients of a warm and uni- 
versal cordiality from the officers and men under whom and 
with whom we were serving? We had received compliments 
before, of course, and had made many friends, both in high 
and low stations. But there was always something lacking, — 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 851 

evident reserve or coldness .somewhere. Now, for once, it 
was all the other way. From corps commander, down to the 
men in all the regiments, every one was openly and heartily 
cordial. Smiles, compliments and cheers greeted the Twenty- 
seventh on every hand ! General Slocum fairly beamed upon 
us, and aides and orderlies clapped hands and waved guidons 
as we passed corps headquarters going out. General Williams, 
stern, gruff old "Pap," was heard to say to someone by his 
side, as we passed liim : " That's a fighting regiment for 
you!" Maybe all this did not cheer our hearts.? Maybe we 
did not brace up and resolve to be more and more worthy of 
such treatment. 

Being the only Indiana regiment in the corps, our position 
Avas peculiar. ]\Iost Eastern people had strange notions about 
Indiana previous to the war, if they are really rid of them now. 

For six weeks, near Stafford Court House, we tried hard 
to pull ourselves together again, and take up the broken 
threads of army life. Squad, company, battalion, and even 
brigade drill, all had a place in our round of duties. In the 
language of more recent days, it was " no soft snap" to serve 
in the Twenty-seventh. Even when some might have thought 
proper to take things easy we were disposed to " hustle.'' 
Colonel Colgrove had gone home on account of the wound he 
had received at Chancellorsville, and Lieutenant-Colonel Fes- 
ler was in command of the regiment. 

Almost every day there ^^as a booming of cannon off 
towards the Rappahannock. This was always followed by a 
camp rumor or " grapevine dispatch " accounting for it. In 
these camp rumors. Hooker was sometimes south of the Rap- 
pahanock river, with Lee wholly at his mercy, and sometimes 
Lee was north of the river with the advantages all reversed. 
Or it was some other equally improbable story, equally dis- 
credited by those who heard it. The army appeared to be 
*' all torn up," abnormally restless, full of foreboding and 
anxietv. But, withal, there was absolutely nothing of that 
discontent which borders on demoralization, much less insubor- 
dination. We had met with a most inexcusable, and therefore 
most discouraging, defeat. Neglect and incompetency we had 
been the victims of before. This time thousands of the best 
soldiers, the bravest of men and the purest of patriots, had 
been sacrificed by outrageous and criminal worthlessness. 

We find President Lincoln writing to (ieneral Hooker at 



;J52 HISTORY OF THH 

this period, inqiiiriny; \\ hat his plans were, and ur<ring him to 
do something, giving as a reason that he did not believe that 
the people would stand a period of inactivity, following such 
a disappointing campaign. Nothing could better demonstrate 
the immeasurable superiority of the unconquerable Union 
Ar,-. .y than facts such as these. What a lofty spirit inspired 
it indeed. If it was hard for the people to bear siicli a defeat, 
how much harder for the soldieis in the field? Yet well do 
we all remember the many expressions of unshaken faith 
in the cause, and of unswerving devotion to dutv among the 
bovs at this time. Plain, unlettered men, serving in tiie ranks 




SURGKOX W. II. TwiFOUD. Fl KS 1- Ll K IT. F. I). Rl'NDKLL^ 

Company G. 

as private soldiers, witii no more at stake in the war than 
other humble citizens, as they gathered in little knots through 
the day, or at their picket reserves at night, said again and 
again, as they discussed the situation between themselves, that 
they knew their cause must be right, they believed that some- 
how it w^ould yet succeed, and they afiirmed their unalterable 
determination to stand by it to the bitter end I 

Immediately after the battle of Chancellor.svilie a num- 
ber of Indiana friends again came to the regiment. It did all 
of us good to see them. Even those of us not personally 
acquainted witii any of them were cheered and encouraged to 



TWENTY SK\'KN'rir INDIAXA. ))58 

set eyes upon them. ^Ve knew tliey were from Indiana and 
sympathized with us and our cause. Their errand was mostly 
to look after wounded ones in the recent battle, or the more 
hopeless errand of obtaining the bodies of the dead. Our 
wounded which were left in the enemy's hands were nearly 
all brought into our lines later, under a flag of truce, upon the 
request of our authorities. The dead could not be recovered. 
Upon the pretence that it would reveal important military 
information, permission to have men go over from our side 
and search for the dead and bring them back or bury them, 
was refused. That the real motive was to conceal their 
neglected condition seems more probable. What military 
information a hundred or so men, searching in the tliick woods 
of the Chancellorsville battle field could glean, is hard to 
imagine. 

All exaggeration aside, the enemy frequently did not give 
civilized attention to the Union dead that the fortunes of war 
left in their hands. Sometimes they buried theni after a 
fashion, but frequently they did not. This we know, sad to 
relate, was the case at Chancellorsville. Those of the Twenty- 
seventh who re-enlisted as veterans camped upon this battle- 
field, and were over the ground upon which the regiment 
fought, after 'Lee's surrender, in 18(35. It may be well to 
state furthermore that they had marched there all the way 
from Nashville, Tenn., by way of Atlanta and Savannah 
Georgia, up through the Carolinas and Virginia. They not 
only found a large number of skeletons which had been so- 
poorly buried as to have been uncovered by animals, and 
even by the wash of the rain, but they also found many which 
had evidently never been buried in any way. Some of these 
last had been their comrades in the Twenty-seventh, 
identified beyond all question. There was no excuse for not 
burying the dead of the Twenty-seventh, beyond mere inhuman 
carelessness, as the ground where our dead fell was open, with 
nothing to conceal a dead body from sight. The veterans very 
properly halted in their march homeward, long enough to 
give respectable interment to the bones of these unburied 
heroes. 

The bringing in of the wounded from Chancellorsville 

was the occasion of the usual number of surprises. A few 

were brought in and eventually recovered whom we had 

thought, from what seemed to be good evidence, had been 
23 



854 HISTORY OF THE 

killed. On the other hand, many, whom we believed to be 
prisoners only, with or without wounds, were now found 
to have been killed, or mortally wounded, while a few remain 
unaccounted for to this day. Precious as their lives were to 
themselves, they gave them to their country in such an incon- 
spicuous way that e\en the fact could not be certainly known. 
Those of the w^ounded able to stand the journey were mostly 
sent on at once to the hospitals at Washington and places 
farther north. J5ut the Twelfth Corps had an immense hos- 
pital, in tents, near Aquia Creek Landing. The worst cases 
were kept there, of course. Several of the Twenty-seventh 
boys were of this number. They were visited by members of 
the regiment as often as seemed possible, under the circum- 
stances. 

Poor fellows! There was the maximum of human suf- 
fering in that hospital. Severe wounds that had received only 
the merest excuse in the way of attention for ten days after 
being inflicted, with the patient almost entirely destitute of 
bedding, shelter or food, and worse than destitute of svmpathy 
or cheer, might well be complicated and hopeless at the end 
of that time, if not so at first. Think of an active, spirited 
young fellow^ of twenty, tingling wnth life and energy to his 
finger tips before now, doomed to lie in one position on his 
back for eleven long nionths, his thigh bone shattered by a 
musket ball, four inches of it removed, and his limb held in a 
-swing, suspended from above ! That was a Twenty-seventh 
soldier. He never fully recovered from the shock and died 
soon after the war. Plis case was only an example of many, 
.many others. 

Several members of the regiment died at this hospital 
before we left Stafford Court House. In diaries and letters in 
possession of the writer are some very impressive facts con- 
cerning these men. What a high type of citizenship and man- 
hood they exemplified .'^ Rome and Sparta, in their palmiest 
days, could furnish nothing better. After a most determined, 
persistent struggle for life, when they finally became con- 
vinced that there was no longer any ground for hope, these 
courageous, devoted ones, sent messages of love, comfort and 
cheer to the dear friends in the far away Indiana home, while 
their parting words to comrades in the regiment were as stir- 
ring as high bugle notes. More than one of them said it was 
hard for him to die, life had seemed full of promise and he had 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 355 

looked out upon it with fond, ardent hopes and ambitions. 
But inasmuch as the interest of the country required it, he 
could die cheerfully. With his last breath he exhorted to 
Loyalty and Courage and, " Like one who wraps the drapery 
of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams," so 
he closed his eyes to all earthly things. 

As the warm season advanced there was uneasiness among 
the authorities concerning the healthfulness of the army, if it 
should remain in the region occupied by it so long. After 
infinite cleaning and readjusting we finally moved our camp 
bodily, on the 27th of May, Our new camp was located south- 
east of where v/e had been so long, near that of tlie One 
Hundred and Seventh New York. 

June 4th, we had marching orders. We packed up on 
short notice and were ready to go. All day we waited, 
momentarily expecting orders to start. No orders came and 
at night, by some sort of authority, we unpacked, put up our 
tents again and went to bed. These were the orders that it 
was said nothing was known about at corps headquarters. 

June 9th, the paymaster came again, on one of his always 
acceptable visits. He paid us for two months. It may not 
have been the best of money, badly depreciated, as is now 
pointed out, but it was far better than none. 

We now drilled regularly, every day. Duty was not too 
hard, merely enough to drive away ennui. It is a pleasant 
reminiscence to this day to call up the times in camp when 
the regular routine went forward without interruption, each 
day, each hour almost, having its duties, but none of them 
being burdensome. 

Our ranks during these days were also filling up some- 
what from returning convalescents, those who had been sick 
or wounded. Some who had been away on detached duty 
also returned at this time. There were always some men 
away in the medical, commissary, or quartermaster's depart- 
ment, or at some of the numerous headquarters. 

On the 13th of June, we moved camp a second time. 
This move was military, rather than sanitary. It was to put 
the brigade or division in the right position with reference to 
some moves that had recently been made by others. At 
least, so it was said. But the move was too military, or 
proved to be, — too much like so many other military moves of 
the period^ — a blunder. 



35G HISTORY OF THE 

The day was very hot. We started at sunrise and 
marched some five miles southeast, across the railroad and 
nearer the Potomac river. Here, under orders, we established 
our camp upon a high hill, where the abandoned winter 
quarters of another regiment were still standing. These we 
took down, and carried the fragments some distance, pitching 
them over a precipice into a deep ravine. The dried mud, 
witli which the huts had been daubed, and all the other small 
litter, we carried in our rubber blankets and disposed of like- 
wise. With brush-brooms we then carefully and laboriously 
swept the ground perfectly clean and bare, far beyond where 
our guard line was to be. 

After this, each mess, acting under instructions, built 
bunks or raised beds to sleep on. Eachone was eighteen inches 
from the ground, supported by forks. The bottoms of these 
bunks were made of small pine poles, laid close together and 
covered with fine pine boughs, our regular resort for a soft 
bed. '■ Soldier feathers " we called them. Over these bunks 
we stretched our shelter tents, high enough up to give us 
comfortable room under them. The whole plan and arrange- 
ment was good. The location on the high hill was admira- 
ble. It afforded us a view of a wide sweep of country and 
gave us the benefits of every breeze, from every direction. 
Already we began to enjoy these things in anticipation. It 
had required the entire day, a bu,sy, toilsome one, too, to march 
so far and do so much hard work. But we were in good 
heart. We were nicely fixed now. Xo chance for filth or 
dampness. No more sleeping on the ground. In fact, would 
you believe it? no sleep for us anywiiere that night ! 

Just when we had about finished everything, beds ready 
spread; supper cooked; night hanging her sable curtains 
around us, dreadfully fatigued, all that remained to do was 
to eat and then — '' Tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy 
sleep." What is that we hear! Is that drummer stringing up 
his drum? Why, mercy on us, it's the Long Roll ! In less 
than an half an hour our supper is gulped down, our knap- 
sacks, like John Brown's, are "strapped upon our backs," our 
lovely camp is dismantled, and we have started, tired and 
sleepy as we are, on an all night's march. Those who have 
done a hard day's labor, out in the sun, in the Spring or early 
Summer, when not much used either to the labor or exposure, 
will appreciate our situation. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. B57 

The invasion of the North had been decided upon by the 
leaders of the rebellion. If the dark cloud of Chancellors- 
villa had any silver lining, it was this : The Southern leaders 
were so inflated by it that it gave them wild and unreasona- 
ble visions of conquest and tribute. This, in turn, gave the 
people of the North another rude but much needed awaken- 
ing from their apathy concerning the spirit and aims of the 
insurgents, and afforded the Army of the Potomac another 
chance to grapple with its foe under more favorable condi- 
tions. 

This movement of tlie rebels began on the 9th or 1 0th of 
June, and was known to our authorities even before it began. 
It's full scope was', of course, not known, as that was only 
tentative in the minds of the Southern leaders themselves ; but 
even that was outlined in the information in possession of our 
people. , It seems passing strange, therefore, that we should 
have had such a very excessive day's toil put upon us, to be 
followed by such a wearisome and altogether unbearable 
night's march, when a move was so certain, within a day or 
two at farthest. 

With almost the usual cheerfulness and gaity, the column 
marched away from the light of our burning camp conven- 
iences, into the murky darkness. Stepping off briskly, we had 
not gone a mile until each man was brought up short, by run- 
ning against his file leader. This was repeated a hundred 
times during the night. The roads were gorged with artillery 
and trains. Sometimes we went a mile and sometimes not 
more than two rods, then halted, not to break ranks and rest, 
but to stand expectantly in the road and wait, lleceiit heavy 
rains, followed by dry, warm weather, had made the roads 
hard, but terribly rough, with multitudes of deep ruts and 
chuck holes. In the darkness no one could see any of these 
impediments, the only recourse being to judge of them by the 
flounderings and exclamations of those in front. To-night was 
the only instance in his life when the writer remembers going 
soundly to sleep, so much so as to lose all consciousness, while 
walking along the road. Some went to sleep in this way so 
soundly that they fell headlong on the ground without wak- 
ing up. The strain upon them was more than tiiey could en- 
dure. 

About daylight the next morning we arrived at the old 
town of Dumfries, on an estuary of the Potomac, below 



858 



HISTORY OF THE 



Mount Vernon. There, out on the open common, between 
what was left of the town and the water, we halted, that is, 
stopped, because those in front of us did. Of course after 
such a hurried starting, and an all night'.s march, we were not 
going to remain here? But we did. Without further orders or 
instructions of any kind, we laid out there, on that treeless, 
shelterless plain, all through that blistering June day, and 
through the night following. 




E. R. Browx, a. H. Brown, 

Co. C. 27th Ind. at 11). Co. I, 161st Ixd. at 18. 

(War of the Rebellion.) (.Spanish-American War.) 

Two Generations oe Soldiers. 

The iiardsliips of a so'diei's life, forsooth ! The real hard- 
ships, those necessarily incident to the service, were cheerfully 
borne, especially by regiments like the Twenty-seventh. 
These unnecessary hardships were of the nature of injuries and 
indignities, inflicted upon the army by the neglect and willful 
shirking of duty by indolent, ease-loving staff officers and 
others, of whom there were legions. They were then strutting 
and masquerading in their showy uniforms, and have been 
shouting ever since over their distinguished services and num- 
erous promotions. A long day's march, on the 15th, brought 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 859 

US to Fairfax Court House. Eight or ten miles of the road we 
had passed over live times before, and all of it three times. 

An incident occurred to-day, the like of. which is always 
remembered gratefully by soldiers. While we were lying 
along the road resting, the corps commander came riding by. 
"Clear the way, there ! " shouted a line officer. ''Never 
mind, boys, don't get up ; my horse is not as tired as you are. 
We can go around," General Slocum said, in a kindly voice. 

After a day's delay at Fairfax, we moved to Drainsville 
and the next day to Leesburg. In the vicinity of Leesburg 
we tarried ten days. General R. E. Lee, of the Confederate 
army, was really directing the movements of our army. That 
is, we were conforming our movements to the movements of 
his. So when we moved, and in what direction, was for 
him to say. 

While near Leesburg, three men of our division were shot 
to death for desertion. The execution was in the usual military- 
form and was the first any of us had witnessed. But the writer, 
being on guard duty that day, saw it at a distance only. A 
more detailed account will be given of a like proceeding later, 
of which he had a nearer view. 

Three days after our coming to Leesburg, the first mail 
came to the regiment since leaving Stafford Court House. 
This delay of a week in the mail service indicated that all was 
not in perfect order there either. 

The work of digging at the old fort at Leesburg, putting 
it in better repair, was done by orders from Washington, witli 
the thought of a small force being left there, to guard the 
fords on the Potomac against the crossing of cavalry, when 
raiding around our army. It was hard for us to understand 
the sense of it at the time, as there did not appear to be the 
slightest probability of our needing the fort. The noted 
cavalry battles at Aldie and Middleburg occurred while we 
tarried here. Not more than eight to twelve miles away, the 
cannonading could be heard very distinctly. 

On the 20th of June Hie regiment crossed the Potomac 
into Maryland at Balls Bluff". A pontoon bridge had been 
laid for the purpose some time previous. We were going 
now precisely in the opposite direction from which we had 
sought to cross, at this same place, almost two years before. 
Our march, after crossing, was up the river, following the 
towpath of the canal. It rained all day, a steady drizzle. 



860 



msronY OK the 



Cainpini^ that ni^rht at tlic mouth of the Monocacy, we 
inarched next day, still along the canal, to a mile beyond 
Petersville. 

The movements in which we luul a direct part for the last 
two days constituted one of the reasons for the change in 
army commanders, which occurred at this time. It was Gen- 
eral Hooker's plan to push a column up the Potomac, threat- 
ening, if not attacking, Lee's comnnniications. The authori- 
ties at Washington did not approve of this. They feared, if 
our army hugged the river and the mountain ranges so closely, 
Lee might suddenly swing around and interpose between us 
and Baltimore and Washington. This complication, with 
others, led to Llooker's resignation. The Washington authori- 
ties may have been wrong tiien, as they were so many other 
times, but there was a Providence in it. The Almighty was 
watching over the destinies of the Republic, and it could not 
be that Hooker would be in command at Gettysburg. 




^L\j.-Gen. Gko. G. Meade. 

(A good portrait of him in lS6;i. Coninianded Army of the 
Potomac at Gettysburg.) 



The appointment of General Meade was received among 
us in a very cpiiet, undemonstrative way. There was no 
strong feeling one way or the other as to him personally. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 361 

The change, however, from Hooker to him unquestionably 
increased the confidence and buoyed up the spirits of the men 
of the Twenty-seventh. Little that was definite was known 
of Meade among us. We had seen him a few times, and 
knew that, as the commander of the Fifth Corps, he was 
ranked among the capable and rising men of the army. His 
order assuming the command was received with favorable 
comments. It had an evident tone of modesty about it, and 
modesty was a great rarity in those parts. It would not be 
the least exaggeration to say that it was always a little scarce 
in the Eastern -army. 

A change in plans was evident, in the direction of our 
march on the following day. the 28th. We turned sharply 
back, almost in the opposite direction from what w^e had been 
going, and at a pace that indicated decision. We passed 
through Pentonville and Jefferson and camped near Fredrick 
City. 

This seemed the most like home to our boys of any place 
this side of Indiana. How kindly and hospitable the people 
were, and what a land of glorious plenty surrounded it ! The 
contrast between the utter waste and desolation of that por- 
tion of Virginia bordering on the Potomac, and this section of 
Maryland, as we saw it, can scarcely be imagined. On the one 
side were no growing crops; fields were entireh'- bare and 
almost every fence rail gone; not a horse, cow, pig or fowl 
could be seen in a day's march. North of the Potomac, 
ever^^vhere, were vast fields of magnificent wheat, just ready 
for the reaper; corn w'as in tassel and shooting out its silken 
ears ; while meadows, orchards and gardens, most abundant 
and luxurious, were to be seen on every hand. To these were 
added live-stock and poultry of all kinds, in both quantity 
and quality, surpassing almost any other section of the United 
States. 

The city of Fredrick, as on the occasion of our other 
visits, was overflowing with plenty. In fact, it was in some 
respects, rather too overflowing for the best order and discipline 
of the army. As we marched out on the road leading north, 
the next morning, the fence corners were well filled with sol- 
diers who had not been losing sleep and who were not usually 
guilty of straggling. Many others, who kept along with the 
column, found it necessary to occupy, first one side of the broad 
road and then the other. The whole Twelfth Army Corps 



862 HISTORY OF THE 

was not drunk, however. There were a few notable excep- 
tions. The steady, drizzling, rain which was falling, helped 
to cool the brain and restore those in need of it to a normal 
condition ; but the sloppy roads put those in a sorry plight 
whose attitude varied occasionally from the perpendicular. 

We hear something in recent years about certain classes 
of persons being refused accommodations at hotels, chiefly on 
on account of the circumstance of their color. The reason 
back of that seems to be that certain other classes refuse to be 
found in their company. vSince being at Fredrick this 
this time the writer has had a clearer understanding of such 
matters, though the question of color was not then raised with 
him. He and a comrade, now a gentleman of \vealth, leisure 
and social dignity in one of the large cities of Indiana, dropped 
into a restaurant at Fredrick for a dish of ice cream. The 
place was crowded, and without thinking at all of what the 
direful consequences might be, we took seats at a table at 
which were seated two lieutenants, about our own age, resplen- 
dent in blue and gold. Instantly they forsook the table, leav- 
ing their dishes entirely untasted. If they had been suddenly 
exposed to some deadly contagion they could not have bolted 
out more unceremoniously. The reason was that they could not 
eat at the same table with enlisted men ! The landlady explained 
later that they had expressly stipulated that in no case was this 
to be allowed. While she was busy we had come in, and had 
unwittingly broken over so obvious and necessary a rule. 
But, inasmuch as the pay had been in advance, the landlady 
had no reason to feel badly over it, and the two Indiana sol- 
diers surely did not ; so, if anybody did, it was the tw^o bloom- 
ing lieutenants. 

Most of the way to Pennsylvania, after leaving Fredrick, 
the infantry marched through the fields, on either side of the 
road, giving up the latter wholly to the artillery and trains. 
Frequently several columns moved on parallel lines. Mounted 
pioneers kept ahead, selecting the best routes, clearing away 
obstructions and using the fences and other materials at hand 
to fill up the ditches and bridge the smaller streams. 

There were many advantages in moving in this wa}-, the 
most important being that the army could move farther in the 
same time, and in a more compact, aggressive or defensive 
mass. It was also easier on the men. There were no tedious 
delays in starting in the morning, or late arrivals in camp at 



TWKNTY-SEVENTir INDIANA. 3615 

night, while the yielding soil of the fields was more grateful 
to the feet than the hard surface of the roads. 

The country passed through was mostly open and, in a 
general way. rather level. It was a sight to stir the blood, as, 
from an elevation, one could look over a stretch of country 
and everywhere see thousands upon thousands of our veterans in 
blue. Slowly moving northward, it required but slight reflec- 
tion to be impressed with the grandeur of their mission, as 
well as that of their appearance. The panoplied hosts of 
Freedom, they were the champions of the Union of the States, 
and of the hopes of all humanity in self-government. It was 
known, even then, that they were sturdily advancing to an 
encounter that would shake the world. 

There must have been something unusual about the spirit 
of the army on this march. As a rule there was considerable 
noise on a march, unless men were very tired from long con- 
tinued and extreme effort. They joked each other, guyed 
stragglers or citizens, whom they met along the way, and 
cheered at whatever they happened to see. Men were com- 
monly ready to cheer anything from a drove of woolly-headed 
little darkies, to a division sweeping over the enemy's entrench- 
ments — one of the sublimest sights ever vouchsafed to 
human eves. But a member of the Twenty-seventh records 
in his diary, that we marched nearly two hundred miles 
without seeing anything to evoke a cheer, and scarcely 
anything to laugh at. vSome of the exhuberance and flow of 
animal spirits which usually characterized the men must 
have been absent. The writer, while temporarily on detached 
duty, saw a division of another corps, on its way to the field 
of Gettysburg, after the battle had been joined. vSo silent 
were they that he had no warning whatever of their appioacli, 
until their head of column filed around a turn in the road. The 
impression was so peculiar that it has remained with him 
ever since. In regular formation, a knot of mounted officers 
in front and rear of each regiment, the men in perfect ranks, 
in files of four, line officers and file closers on either side, all 
were reaching out in long, rapid steps. Regiment after regi- 
ment fairly glided by, with no word spoken, that could be 
heard a rod away. 

At a village near the Pennsylvania line, a group of young 
ladies stood by the way-side and sang patriotic songs. This 
brought out round after round of rousing cheers from the 



3(54 HISTORY OF THE 

troops. They were, in all probability, as much pleased to see 
the loyal girls as to hear the loyal songs. 

The second day after leaving Fredrick a band of roving 
rebel scouts caused a flurry in our column and a slight delay. 
Some rebel cavalry was passing somewhere to the eastward of 
us, on one of their periodical rides around our army. Those in 
question now must have been part of this force. As we were 
moving quietly along, with scarcely a thought of the enemy — 
bang! bang! went a few guns ahead somewhere. It was said 
then that the commanding ofHcer of one of the newer regi- 
ments, which happened to be leading that day, claimed that his 
men had not been instructed in the skirmish drill, and begged 
that some other regiment be brought to the front. At all 
events, those in advance of the Twent^'-seventh moved to the 
side of the road and we went forward at a double-quick. It 
was the old story, however, the mounted raiders being careful 
to keep out of the way of infantr\-. When we arrived at the 
front, and had thrown forward our skirmishers, they had van- 
ished. 

Early in the evening of June 80th, we camped half a mile 
north of Littlestown, Pennsylvania. We were at last upon 
free, northern soil. The line between Maryland and Pennsyl- 
vania is the original " Mason and Dixon's Line," so often men- 
tioned in the discussions on slavery before the war. This line 
was first surveyed and established by two men by the names, 
respectively, of Mason and Dixon. Its prolongation across the 
continent had, in the law known as '' The Missouri Compro- 
mise,"' been made the permanent boundary between free and 
slave territory. 

This June 80th, 1868, was, in an important sense, the last 
day of an era — the era of slavery domination in the United 
States. The next day was to witness the beginning of a battle 
which, in the estimation of an ever-increasing number of peo- 
ple, marks a great turn in the history of the human race. 
What report shall this diminishing band, whose humble 
achievements we are following, be able to give of itself in this 
overshadowing crisis? 



CHAPTER XXV. 



GETTYSBURG. 



Little known before, the name which heads this chapter 
is now one to conjure witli. No other geographical name in 
the annals of the great war recalls at once so much of the 
enthusiasm, pride and glory of those old, heroic days. Around 
it hangs a mysterious and enchanting halo, which only 
increases as time goes by. With those who were there on the 
first, second and third of July, 18(33, the mere mention of the 
name awakens stirring recollections and tender emotions. 

It must have been near seven o'clock on the morning of 
the first of July, a fair, pleasant Summer morning, when the 
First Division of the Twelfth Corps started back through 
Littlestown and filed onto the Baltimore pike, the direct road 
to Gettysburg, distant ten miles. The Twenty-seventh led 
the infantry column. We pressed steadily along, through an 
open, fertile country, though there was no evidence of haste in 
any quarter. 

To those not advised of the orders under which the army 
was acting, our movements soon became mysterious. The 
writer's impression is that when we started in the morning, or 
very soon afterwards, we heard rumblings of artillery. It is 
certain that artillery firing early became so distinct and rapid 
that many were apprehensive that the decisive battle, impend- 
ing some days, might be on. This apprehension was increased 
by the fact of our keeping skirmishers out so carefully, when 
we could see so far ahead, as well as by the many rumors that 
always circulate at such a time. Still the pace was not 
increased and, slowly as we had been moving, when we reached 
the hamlet of Two Taverns, half way to Gettysburg, we filed 
leisurely into a field, under orders, and went into biviouac. 

This greatly increased our perplexity. The sounds of 
battle ahead of us liad grown more and more fierce. There 
was no longer room for doubt that a large force on each side 
was engaged, and that musketry firing was mixed with that 
of the artillery. For some years most of the soldiers of the 



3(36 HISTORY OF THE 

Twelfth Corps were greatly puzzled over our orders this 
morning. The corps could easily have joined in the battle of 
the first day. The distance from our starting point to the 
battlefield might have been traversed by noon. 

The trouble was that General Slocum,our corps com- 
mander, was acting under the direct orders of General Meade, 
whose headquarters were at Taneytown, with no means of 
communication with Slocum, except by courier. Up to this 
time it was not Meade's plan that more than a small part of 
his army should advance as far as Gettysburg and while he 
shared the prevalent conviction of his soldiers that a serious 
conflict with the enemy was near at hand, he was not expect- 
ing that it would begin to-day. Neither commander of the 
two great armies was expecting this. Neither of them realized 
that the opposing forces were approaching so near together. 

General Meade had tentatively decided that he would 
offer battle along the line of Pipe Creek, and had partly 
matured his plans to that end. This line the Twelfth Corps 
liad already passed. General Slocum's orders, therefore, were 
to move his corps as far as Two Taverns, and there await 
further instructions. 

vSo, here we were, General Meade, at Taneytown, was 
farther away from Gettysburg than ourselves. While we 
were worrying because orders did not come, carrying us into 
the battle, the one from wl.om the orders should emanate 
learned of the emergency later than we did. 

But we had not tarried long at Two Taverns before a 
courier was seen to dash up to corps headquarters. He was 
followed by a second, then a third. Their horses in a lather 
and jaded, proved that they had come a distance and ridden 
fast. Our surmises that the arrival of these horsemen be- 
tokened a move for us were quickly confirmed. They were 
from General Howard, at Gettysburg, informing Slocum of 
the state of affairs at that place ; the seriousness of the con- 
flict, the lamented death of General Reynolds, the sore need 
of more men, and urgently requesting him to bring his corps 
forward. Slocum was not under Howard's command, but 
following a wise military maxim, he decided to march in- 
stantly to the sound of the enemy's guns. 

Any soldier will recall how a knot of aides and orderlies, 
gathered in a circle about their chief, would break apart and 
dissolve in many directions, atter these fresh arrivals. Thus 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 367 

it was now. More promptly almost than it can be told, we 
had received orders and were on the way. The baggage 
trains, and the sick and disabled were sent to the rear, non- 
combatants and stretcher bearers were instructed to report to 
the surgeon, and the column pressed forward on quick time. 
After this, those not in good form for marching could not 
keep up. 

Every rod towards the front brought the various noises 
of the struggle more distinctly to our ears. Many who have 
given considerable attention to the history of the battle do 
not comprehend the intensity of this first day's encounter at 
Gettysburg. For the number seriously engaged, few other 
battles equalled the first day at Gettysburg in the per cent of 
loss sustained. 

When we reached the point from which the ground 
begins to break off towards the valley of Rock Creek, the 
tremendous crash and din, though still three or four miles 
distant, seemed almost at our feet. As Gulps Hill and Ceme- 
tery Ridge loomed into view, we could scarcely believe that the 
scene of action was not on our side, rather than beyond, those 
heights. While rising above them higher and higher, and 
reaching far around the horizon, was a cloud of dust and 
smoke, of ever-increasing density. 

About two miles from Gettysberg, our First Division 
diverged from the pike and field off to the right, towards the 
Hanover road. We at length halted, and formed line of bat- 
tle facing Wolf's Hill. The orders were to take possession of 
this eminence. The Twenty-seventh, being still in the lead, 
was instructed to advance one company as skirmishers and 
follow with the others, as a support. In the openings along 
the crest of the hill we could see mounted men in gray. 

But when the men of Company G, which was on the 
skirmish line, moved forward they met with no opposition. 
They had about reached the top of the hill, while the balance 
of the regiment was in a wooded ravine near the bottom, 
when a halt was called. Information had been received just 
then that our army had withdrawn from beyond Gettysburg, 
and that the possession of Wolf's Hill was no longer desir- 
able. We therefore about faced and returned to the division, 
with which, after some delay, we moved back to the vicinity 
• of where we had left the pike, at which point we spent tlie 
night. 



8G8 II IS TO KY OK THE 

Apparently we had accomplished nothing this Hrst day at 
Gettysburg. Vet it has since developed that \vc did exercise 
a positive influence in shaping affairs at that critical time. 
How much this had to do in determining the final issue of the 
battle can only be conjectured. It appears that, following his 
partial success beyond the town of Gettysburg, preparations 
were being made by the enemy for an assault upon Cemetery 
Ridge. All that was lacking was the arrival of a lagging bri- 
gade. Instead of hastening forward it halted back somewhere, 
and sent \vord that a threatening Union force was 
approaching the town on the Hanover road. The report 
seems not to have been fully credited but, lest it might be 
true, another brigade was detached, to go out in that direc- 
tion. 

The Union force referred to was, evidently, our First 
Division, which, in the meantime, had drawn back from the 
direction of the Hanover road. But so much time was con- 
sumed in ascertaining the facts that the contemplated assault 
on Cemetery Ridge was not made that day, and did not take 
place until the following evening, when it was repulsed, 
after a hand-to-hand encounter. It was certainly desirable, 
not to say more, to have the struggle for the possession of this 
vital point, the unquestioned key to the Union position, post- 
poned until more thoroughly fortified and until more troops 
were available for its defense. 

On the morning of the '2d, the Twenty-seventh was 
ordered to make another movement, alone, in the direction of 
the Hanover road. This time Company F was put on the 
skirmish line. After advancing several hundred yards the 
men of F encountered the enemy and a brisk skirmish ensued, 
continuing for perhaps an hour. The enemy was posted in a 
wood directly in front of our line, and in a stone house and 
outbuildings, somewhat to the right. Our line was in open 
ground at first, but at length an advance was ordered on 
the left and a house, in that direction, was taken possession 
of. This strategy not only prevented the enemy from get- 
ting possession of the other house, as he was endeavoring 
to do, but afforded our skirmishers a position of some ad- 
vantage. 

The body of the regiment was not ordered to take part in 
the action, however, and there was no positive order, or special 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 



369 



attempt made, to dislodge the enemy from the stone house, as 
some have understood,* 

Company F lost in this skirmisli one killed and four 
wounded. The time occupied by the movement and skirmish 
was perhaps two hours. 

While the foregoing was in progress, Colonel Colgrove 




Old Mill at Gettysburg. 

Near First Position of 27th, in McAllister's Woods. 

was notified that he had succeeded to the command of the 
brigade. General Slocum having been assigned to the com- 
mand of the right wing it gave General Williams com- 
mand of the corps and (jeneral Ruger the division. These 
changes also brought Lieutenant-Colonel Fesler into command 
of the Twenty-seventh. 



♦Adjutant Bryant (Hist. ;^d Wis. p. 186) seems to be under the im- 
pression that this stone house was the same as the one on the bank of 
Rock Creek, from which sharp shooters annoyed our lines during thi; bat- 
tle of the 3d. Intelligent men of our Company F insist that, so far from 
being the same, the two houses were nearly a mile apart. 



24 



370 HISTOKY OF THE 

About the time of these changes, our division moved to 
the position near which it was to make its record on this field. 
It had not been gone long when a force of Union cavalry 
appeared in the vicinity, and the Twenty-seventh was ordered 
to follow after the division. 

Marching back to the Baltimore Pike, we moved on it 
towards Gettysburg. North of Rock Creek we filed to the 
right, and found the division forming in line of battle along 
Rock Creek at the base of Culps Hill and in McAllister's 
Woods opposite. Our brigade was on the right of the 
division, and the Twenty-seventh was assigned a position on 
the right of the brigade. This first position of the Twenty- 
seventh was in McAllister's Woods, well down towards the 
old mill. Along this line the brigade constructed breast- 
works, but in front of the Twenty-seventh was a ledge of 
rocks which largely served the purpose.* 

Our regiment remained in this position quietly until in 
the evening, though there appears to have been some shifting 
and interchanging by other regiments. During this interval 
our Company A was sent to the right and front, on outpost 
duty, but with them, also, the time seems to have passed 
uneventfully. 

The experiences of all of the regiments of the brigade 
were so nearly identical at this time that Lieutenant- Colo- 
nel ^Morse's well-written paper, upon the part taken by the 
Second Massachusetts, in the Gettysburg campaign, may be 
quoted as describing our own. He says, ''All was quiet 
through the morning and well on into the afternoon. But 
shortly before sunset, the favorite time for rebel attack, the 
sound of fierce battle broke out on our left, which from the 
;horse-shoe-shape of our line, seemed almost in our rear. This 
was the attack on Sickle's Third corps. ****** 

" The fire of musketry and cannon constantly grew 
heavier and above the roar of the guns the rebel yell could be 
heard coming nearer and nearer. From our position we could 
look across about a mile of open country, in the direction of the 
fighting ; but thick woods then intervened and concealed all 
that was going on. Every eye was turned, of course, towards 



^Compare reports of Colonel Colgrove as brigade commander with 
that of Colonel Crane, One Hundred and Seventh New York and Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Fesler, Twenty-seventh Indiana, Rebellion Record, Re- 
ports on Gettysburg, p. 812 et seq. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 871 

those woods, fearing lest any moment we should see our 
troops driven back, and the enemy appear. This anxiety was 
increased when the wounded came streaming back out of the 
woods in such numbers that it seemed that our line must 
have broken. But, about the same time, we saw the staunch 
Fifth Corps move forward to the support of Sickles, and, 
almost simultaneously with their disappearance in the woods, 
the firing redoubled, indicating that the fresh troops had 
become engaged. 

" Staff officers and orderlies now came riding toward 
Williams' division, and we knew that our turn had come. It 
was nearly dark when we filed across the Baltimore pike, 
towards the terrible crash of arms in the woods, and we were 
soon under a random fire of artillery. ***** 

" When we marched into the woods it was fairly dark, 
and the musketry fire had almost ceased. The artillery fire 
continued at intervals, but the indications were that the Fifth 
Corps had repulsed the enemy, and that our front was unbro- 
ken. We were halted in the woods and, I think, formed in 
line, but almost immediately orders came for a counter-march." 

The fighting on this second day at Gettysburg, as would 
naturally be inferred from the extract, was again raging and 
bloody. It was all done in a few hours in the evening, but 
was a contest between giants. Here, on the left, where the 
struggle was the most prolonged, the men on the rebel side 
were of Longstreet's corps, while the Union army was repre- 
sented by the Third Corps, reinforced towards the close by 
troops from the Fifth Corps, and others. 

General Sickles was the hero of the day. He was cen- 
sured by General Meade at the time, for taking the position 
he did, fartlier to the front than the one he was expected to 
occupy. Others believed, also, influenced most likely by erro- 
neous or incomplete information, that he had made a mistake, 
if nothing more. But the trend of sentiment is now much 
more in his favor. Recent critics appear disposed to accord 
to him the credit of forcing the enemy into battle on this 
ground, instead of turning the Union position. If this was 
really true, posterity will owe him a great debt. The un- 
doubted thing for the Union army to do was to fight here and 
now. General Sickles lost a leg in the action. The Twenty- 
seventh always remembered him after his fiery speech to Col- 



372 mSTOKY OF THE 

onel Colgrove, complimenting the regiment so highly, at 
Chancellorsville. 

General Green and his brigade, of the Second Division of 
our corps (formerly our own "Pap" Green), also won for 
themselves imperishable fame, this second evening at Gettys. 
burg. Green's brigade alone was left on Gulp's Hill, when 
the balance of the Twelfth Corps moved over to the support 
of Sickles. During the interval it was assailed by the rebel 
column designed for the entire corps. Many times outnum- 
bered, but favored by position, the brigade fought with con- 
spicuous gallantry. It not only defended successfully its own 
position, but deployed its line and held a part of the ground 
previously occupied by others. 

After receiving the order to return to our former position, 
the experiences of the several regiments of the brigade diverge 
somewhat. In fact we here enter upon a period of not a little 
uncertainty as to particular movements, and one during which 
there was considerable confusion and consequent anxiety as 
to the situation. The exact sequence of events during this 
period seems involved in a hopeless tangle. Many individuals, 
perhaps most who were present, appear to think that they 
can tell the story just as it was, but no two can seem to agree 
as to details. The cause of these troubles is probably to be 
found largely in'the inexorable closing down of night and of 
darkness, so importune for our side, as well as in the changes 
in the vicinity of Gulp's Hill, which took place in our absence. 

There can be little doubt, howevei", as to the more impor- 
tant facts. That the Third Brigade arrived at the scene of the 
conflict on the left too late to be of any material service is un- 
questioned. Whether any of the regiments put forward skir- 
mishers, formed lines of battle, or made any other dispositions 
looking toward actual hostilities, or whether they simply 
halted in the column, because those in front of them did, mat- 
ters little. No one of them took any material part in the bat- 
tle at that point. 

That our stay on the left was brief also, is equally certain. 
Orders soon came for the return march. And whether the 
rumor concerning the advance of the enemy upon our position 
during our absence was in circulation among us before we 
started to retrace our steps, as some assert, or whether it became 
current later, there could have been no hint of it in the orders 
which sent us back. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 373 

The Twenty-seventh returned to its former position with- 
out delay. As it approached the place where it had formerly 
been, behind the ledge of rocks, those in advance could dis- 
cern shadowy forms of men, moving about in the darkness. 
Who they were could not be told. On being challenged, 
sounds, as of splashing water, was the only response. It was 
inferred later that this part of the line had been held by pickets 
or skirmishers of the enemy and tliat, upon our return, they 
had withdrawn beyond the creek. 

But very soon the Twenty-seventh had orders to move 
out a second time, being led to the vicinity of the Baltimore 
Pike. Finding here the other regiments of the brigade the 
gravity of the situation first became fully known to us. The 
case was strongly suggestive of Chancellorsville, in that mat- 
ters had gone wrong in our absence. All will remember with 
what vehement determination the men vowed that the result 
should not be what it had been at the other place. 

We remained along the Baltimore pike, resting at will, 
for a considerable time. As bearing upon this period of delay 
and anxiety. General Williams makes a surprising state- 
ment in his official report. He says that he did not himself 
learn of the advance of the enemy and of their occupancy of a 
part of our breastworks, until after his return from the council 
at General Meade's headquarters, near midnight. He farther 
states that he then, for the first time, as it would seem, 
appraised General Slocum of these facts. Assuming these 
statements to be true, and there is no ground to conjecture 
why they should not be, the delay is not only explained, but 
the conclusion is unavoidable that some of the incidents of this 
wearisome night occurred nearer morning than some of us have 
been in the habit of thinking. 

Several soldiers of the Twenty-seventh tell of a discussion 
or conference between a knot of officers, which they over- 
heard at this point. Faces could not be distinguished in the 
darkness, and, except when speaking unusually loud, the 
parties to the conference could not be recognized by their 
voices. General Williams and Colonel Colgrove are distinctly 
remembered, however, along with others. The question 
was as to what should be done in view of the attitude of the 
enemy. Part favored an immediate assault, night though it 
was, with the view of regaining the lost ground. They rea- 
soned that, coming in so late in the evening, the enemy could 



374 HISTORY OF THE 

not be formidable in numbers, or well prepared for de- 
fence. Delay would enable him to reinforce, and strengthen 
himself in other ways. Prominent among those urging such 
a course it was no surprise to find Colonel Colgrove. On the 
other hand, no one seemed to oppose it strenuously, at least 
not in tones sufficiently distinct to be recognized. There was 
only a murmur of dissent. The measure was too radical, and 
would be attended with too many risks. The discussion or 
consultation was somewhat prolonged. At length, as the 
party was separating, General Williams was heard to say, in 
substance: "We will hold the position we now have until 
morning. Then, from these hills back of us, we will shell hell 
out of them." 

Almost immediately after this announcement the Twenty- 
seventh started and again marched back to the position it had 
first occupied in the morning, in McAllister's woods. There 
it spent what remained of the night. If any other regiment 
of the Third Brigade, whose position had been south of, that 
is down the creek from, the little meadow, did not also return 
to it, the reason could not have been because the enemy stood 
in the way. On the contrary, those regiments whose positions 
had been north of the meadow could not return to them, 
because the enemy already occupied them. 

Thus finally terminated the second day at Gettysburg, in 
the experience of the Twenty-seventh. We must have had it 
quiet from this until daylight. Major Colgrove, in a letter 
yet to appear, says, " We fought several little battles during 
the night," but by the word " we " he must refer to other 
troops of our army, rather than to his own regiment. No 
other statement, written or oral, is known to the writer, indi- 
cating that there was much to disturb the sleep of the over- 
taxed soldiers along Rock Creek, or around the edge of the 
meadow, from now until the dawn of day. 

Colonel Morse, in the paper quoted from above, relates 
that Colonel Mudge, of his regiment, and himself had,, 
between them, no other bedding that night save one rubber 
blanket. Upon this they both laid down, back to back, and 
slept quite comfortably The statement furnishes a pathetic 
glimpse of army life. Colonel Mudge, a sturdy soldier and 
patriot, was killed in the action of the early morning fol- 
lowing. 

Most soldiers probably had a more liberal supply of bed 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIAxNA, B75 

ding here than that, thou^li meager enough always. The 
worst feature in the problem of rest and sleep, under such 
conditions as prevailed at times like this, was what to do 
about one's belt and shoes. With strictest orders to lay on 
our arms, and the evident liability of an attack at any moment, 
these were removed at great risk. Yet they were very dis- 
agreeable bedfellows, or became such before morning. After 
being upon one's feet so much through the day, besides feel- 
ing cramped and sore, they swell and become feverish during 
the night, and make loud and persistent appeals to be let out 
for airing and relaxation. The body likewise protests urgently 
against the long-continued weight and restraint of the belt. 
Whatever was true here, both the belt and shoes were usually 
slipped off, at least for a time, before morning. 

As the fires are built under the great boilers of a mill 
while most of the operatives are asleep, so the plans which 
decide the fate of armies are largely formed and orders for 
their execution are issued, while most of the fighting contingent 
of all ranks are taking their rest. Generals Lee and Jackson, 
sitting on two empty cracker boxe.?, near the Union lines at 
Chancellorsville, after the majority on both sides were deep 
in slumber, decided upon the reckless flank movement which, 
wisely opposed, would have cost them their army ; but which 
really stampeded one of our corps, and, infinitely worse, un- 
manned our commanding general, and won them the battle. 

Just before midnight, this second night at Gettysburg, 
General Meade held a council of war at his headquarters with 
his corps commanders. It was convened at a small farm- 
house, in rear of the cemetery, on the Taneytown road. 
Some authorities assert that the room, in which the council 
deliberated was only 10 x 12 feet in size. While it may have 
been larger, it was still a small room, with furniture of the 
plainest variety and well worn. General Slocmn says : " A 
rickety bed stood in one corner and a cheap pine table in the 
center of the room."* The time was close to eleven o'clock^ 
and the only light was that of our army candles. 

Under such circumstances these men who, to the end of 
the world, will have a conspicuous place in history, and who 
we soldiers looked up to as occupying very high stations, met 
and consulted as to " What shall be the order of the day for 



* North American Review. 



376 



HISTORY OF THE 



tomorrow?" Those present seem to have been as modest 
and unpretentious as their surroundings. Adjutant Bryant 
aptly says they " were as cahn, as mild mannered and as free 
from flurr}' or excitement as a board of commissioners met to 
discuss a street improvement." 

The reply of General Slocum, our corps commander 
proper, to the question before the council was a model of sen- 




GeN. MeADR'.S HsADCiUARTERS AT GETTYSBURG. 

(The Council of War Was Held Here.) 

tentious brevitv as well as military sagacity. It also showed 
that he was in touch with his soldiers now, as at other times. 
He simply f^iud, '■'■S/ay and Ji_o-//t it oiitr That was exactly 
what the Twelfth Army Corps was ready to do, here and 
evervwhere. No more fitting motto could have been devised 
for its flags and standards. This w-as the sentiment, substan- 
tially, of all the members of the council. In this particu"lar, 
as in others, this council of American generals is historic. It 
has passed into a proverb that " Councils never fight." This 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 377 

was, therefore, a notable exception, for it did. Every member 
said fight. Men of heroic mold abounded at Gettysburg. 

It seems a droll situation that General Meade should look 
askance at our " Pap" Williams during this conl^erence, with 
thoughts running through his mind not expressed openly, 
somewhat as the host might look at an uninvited guest at a 
wedding. He wondered why General Williams was present. 
It did not occur to Meade that Williams was in command of 
the Twelfth Corps, temporarily, and, as such, had been sum- 
moned to attend the council. 

The matter of shelling the rebels which had come into the 
position of some of the regiments of the Twelfth Corps was 
not forgotten. The batteries of the corps were placed in posi- 
tion while it was yet dark, and the light had barely dawned 
when they opened with tremendous energy. This fierce can- 
nonade ushered in the third day at Gettysburg with us. It 
was kept up, without slacking or intermission, for about a half 
hour. The batteries had been placed in groups, so as to pour 
a converging fire into the timber occupied by the enemy. W^e 
were nearer the enemy than the men operating the guns, some 
of the shot passing over our heads, as was the case at Chan- 
cellorsville ; though we could not see or hear as much of the 
effects of the fire as we had on the former occasion. Whether 
or not any " h — 1 " was shelled out of the rebel occupants of 
Culps Hill, as General Williams had threatened, could not be 
told at our distance. That a goodly quantity of that article 
was " raised" in their vicinity, by the torrent of shot and shell 
striking and bursting among them, we could easily believe. 

Early in the morning, also, the Twenty-seventh moved to 
its left, into the works built the previous day by the Third 
Wisconsin. This position was farther up Rock Creek, and 
facing toward it. On arriving there, we at once found our- 
selves exposed to the fire of the enemy's sharp-shooters across 
the swale, at the base of Culps Hill, as well as from those more 
in our front. While the regiment was in this position, Com- 
pany A returned fr^m its out-post duty and resumed its place 
in the regiment. 

At the next stage of importance we come upon another 
much disputed point. With reference to the time in the morn- 
ing when the order was given which sent the Twenty-seventh 
and Second Massachusetts upon their ill-fated assault, the 
opinions of those concerned differ widely. Some are sure it 



878 HISTORY OF THE 

was as early as five A. M., while others are equally positive 
it was after ten. Some claim that this was the first serious 
clash of arms that morning on the line held by the Twelfth 
Corps, while others assert that it was almost the last. Curi- 
ously, in none of the extensive written data of the period, 
available to the writer, is the hour definitely stated, in such 
language as to carry with it the impression that the one mak- 
ing the statement meant to be exact. While almost all officers, 
and a considerable proportion of enlisted men, carried watches, 
all written records fail to show that anyone happened to look 
at his time-piece, and was therefore qualified to state precisely 
what the hour was. 

To this the official reports constitute no exception. All 
of the officers making reports either use the indefinite word 
" about," or in some other way give the reader to understand 
that they were not certain as to time. 

General Ruger's report, while indefinite like others, 
undeniable favors the theory of a late hour. After referring 
to the artillery fire, heretofore mentioned, he describes various 
movements made by his orders and others. Then he adds : 
"This state of things continued until about 10 a. m., the 
enemy maintaining the attack with great constancy, throwing 
forward fresh troops from time to time, suffering severely, but 
gaining no advantage, while our loss was comparatively 
slight. At this time, I received orders to try the enemy on 
the right of the line of breastworks, to the left of the swale, 
with two regiments, and, if possible, to force him out." 

Colonel Colgrove, reporting as commander of the Third 
Brigade, says : " Early on the morning of the 8d, before it 
was fairly light, the battle commenced on our left, on that 
portion of the line held by the Second Division, and almost 
simultaneously the enemy's sharpshooters, from the breastworks 
and large ledges of rock on our left, opened fire upon us. 

" 1 immediately deployed sharpshooters from the Third 
Wisconsin and Second Massachusetts in front of our breast- 
works, covered by a small belt of timber, and returned their 
fire briskly for about two hours. About this time the firing 
on our left, which had been very heavy, was fast receding, 
and loud cheering was heard along our lines. It was evident 
to me that General Geary had dislodged the enemy, and had 
retaken the breastworks occupied by him the day before. 
* * * * At this juncture. Lieutenant Snow, of your staff". 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 379 

came up and said ; ' The general directs that you advance 
your line immediately.' " 

Lieutenant Colonel Fesler, as commander of the Twenty- 
seventh, makes no statement as to the time the assault was 
ordered, and none from which any inference can be drawn as 
to the hour. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Morse, (then major) of the .Second 
Massachusetts, says in his report, " At daylight on July 'Sd, 
our skirmishers, Company E, Captain Robeson, became 
engaged. Firing was kept up until 5:150 o'clock, when 
the regiment was ordered to charge the woods in front of us." 

But in his paper, quoted from above, Colonel Morse names 
seven o'clock as the probable hour of the charge, and admits 
that it may have been later. 

The difHculties attending the settlement of the probleni 
are thus apparent. The foregoing quotations are given that 
those interested may consider them as deemed best. The 
first shots on the skirmish line were fired close to four o'clock, 
or, to be exact, at 8 :50 a. m. The batteries of the Twelfth 
Corps, according to the report of Lieutenant Muhlenberg, who 
was in command, opened precisely at 4 :80. 

Colonel Colgrove, though in command of the brigade, 
remained most of the time near his own regiment. When 
Lieutenant Snow, of Ruger's staff, was seen to approach him 
the conviction was universal among us that something serious 
was on hand. Lieutenant Snow was the bearer of an order wdiich 
most unfortunately, had not been put in writing, and the exact 
terms of which will never be certainly known this side of 
Eternity. Whatever they were, the colonel took some pains 
to make sure he understood them, and whatever understand- 
ing he had of them, he doubted the possibility of accomplish- 
ing the end contemplated. A sergeant of Company F, of the 
Twenty-seventh, was near enough to the colonel to hear his 
words, and he well remembers that the colonel pulled his nose, 
as was his wont when pondering a difficult problem, and re- 
peated, as if to himself, "It cannot be done, it cannot be 
done." The he added, '' If it can be done, the Second Massa- 
chusetts and the Twenty seventh Indiana can do it." After 
which he proceeded to execute the fatal order, as he interpre- 
ted it, which was that two regiments should assault the posi- 
tion of the enemy across the swale, at the base of Culp's Hill, 
with a view of turninfr his ilank and drivinir him out. Dis- 



380 HISTORY OF THE 

patching his orderly to Colonel Aludge, of the Second, with 
the order to charge the enemy's works in his front, Colonel 
Colg:ove communicated the order to Lieutenant-Colonel Fes- 
ler in person. Colonel Mudge likewise doubted the correct- 
ness of the order, as brought to him. He questioned the 
orderly, "Are you sure it is the order?" When advised again 
that it was he said, "It is murder, but it is the order." Then, 
in brave tones he commanded, "Up, men, over the works; 
Forward, Double-quick!" 

But before the Twenty-seventh could obey the order to 
charge, it was first necessary for it to change front, a move- 
ment which, under the circumstances, required considerable 
time. This is a point often overlooked or forgotten in can- 
vassing the tremendous events of this morning. The Twenty- 
seventh was still occupying the position which the Third Wis- 
consin had occupied the day before, which faced in a direction 
almost at a right angle to the line of the charge. Moreover, 
the Thirteenth New Jersey, being in the angle between the 
Twenty-seventh and Second Massachusetts, it was necessary 
for It to move, in order to give the Twenty-seventh an unob- 
structed passage. The order was that the Twenty-seventh 
should about-face and make a half wheel in battalion formation, 
while the Thirteenth should move by the left flank out of its 
way. But as the Twenty-seventh about-faced and swung 
around, at a double-quick, the Thirteenth, by an error in orders, 
failed to move promptly enough. Hence the two regiments, 
already exposed to the enemy's fire, ran plump into each other. 
For a brief space they were intermingled upon the same 
ground, in some confusion. 

It is doubtful if any one can give a correct account of how 
the Twenty-seventh was extricated from this situation. Col- 
onel Colgrove was present and gave commands directly to 
both regiments. All who were present \vill remember the 
shrill, piercing tones of the Colonel's voice as he gave the 
final command, "Twenty-seventh, charge! Charge those 
works in your front." This command was repeated by Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Fesler and other officers and, with a wild, 
prolonged shout, the regiment leaped over the breastworks, 
where a part of the Thirteenth New Jersey had been, and 
was off" ! 

The first 100 yards was down a hillside of moderate slope, 
covered quite thickly by oak and hickory saplings, from four 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 



381 



to eight inches in diameter. Over this space the line swept 
rapidly, with unbroken ranks. A few were hit during this 
part of the movement, but not enough to make any noticeable 
change in the formation, or check the progress. This was 
true also for the next few rods. Those to the left of the col- 
ors in our line, as it then was, and possibly others, will recall 
the ghastly spectacle of the four officers and several men of 
the Second Massachusetts, lying among the young trees, 
apparently dead, as we passed down the incline. 




The Meadow or " Swale " at Gettysiu'ki;, Looking 

Towards Rock Creek. 

The woods to the left in the picture contained the eneniys breast works, upon 
which the Twenty-seventh Indiana and Second Massachusetts charged. The 
point aimed at by the Twenty-seventh is far back in the picture, to the left ; the 
Second Massachusetts was this side of the Twenty-seventh. The Second fell back, 
at first, behind the stone wall, shown in the picture. 

When the edge of the open meadow was reached, as if by 
common understanding, the pace of all was quickened. The 
position of the enemy was now in clearer view, and the nat- 
ural and universal impulse seemed to be to rush upon it The 
increased fire of the enem}', which was also perceptible, may 
have been an additional stimulus to hasten matters to a con- 



S82 HISTORY OF THE 

elusion. Killed and wounded men were droppirg from the 
ranks more and more. Officers were instant and fervent in 
steadying the line and urging it forward, while the men 
exhorted and encouraged each other to hurry on. 

This meadow, or " swale," as it is often called in the 
reports and in other writings, was, at this time, a soft, boggy 
piece of ground, devoid of timber of any kind, and scant one 
hundred yards wide, straight across, where the Twenty- 
seventh struck it. It dipped slightly towards the center, near 
which there was a small open drain or ditch. The surface of 
the ground raises somewhat more rapidly on the Gulps Hill 
side, being a little rugged and considerably strewn with 
boulders, after the timber line is reached. The enemy's 
defenses were two or three rods back from this line. 

The writer would not venture to say just how far the 
Twenty-seventh had advanced into the meadow when it was 
met bv the scathing, fatal volley w'hich all remember so well, 
and which so many have substantial reasons for remembering. 
It may have been half way across, less or more. It was a 
terrific volley. It was one of those well-aimed, well-timed 
volleys which break up and retard a line, in spite of itself. 
Major Colgrove says it appeared to him to knock the three 
right companies right down. The major must have had his 
eyes for the moment upon these companies, for to others it 
seemed the same with other companies. To those who had 
the whole line in view it almost appeared that a crevasse had 
opened in the earth and swallowed the regiment, bodily. 

But the Twenty-seventh did not halt, much less turn 
back, more is the pity. With quick glances right and left, to 
find some one to close up on and touch elbows with, those 
unhurt continued on and on. From the point where the 
deadly volley was encountered the line advanced several rods. 
Reckless of danger, both officers and men forged ahead and 
called and beckoned to others to follow. 

Meanwhile the fire of the enemy, which immediately 
after the sharp volley w^as somewhat scattering, again became 
hot. The men in our front had had time to reload their rifles, 
while others were evidently rallying to their assistance. The 
line against which the Twenty-seventh was advancing was 
nearly four times as long as ours, and seemed heavier. The 
air was alive with singing, hissing and zipping bullets. It 
can readilv be seen now that our case was foredoomed, and 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 383 

that persistence meant only annihilation ; but few, if any, in 
our ranks saw it in that light, at the time. On the contrary, 
the sentiment strongly prevailed that a little more energy and 
unity of effort would give us success. We were invincible. 
We must not and could not fail. A supreme, concerted dash, 
which we were capable of making, would land us inside of 
the enemy's entrenchments. 

For these reasons it was deemed a great mistake by some 
that others stopped to fire their muskets. The temptation to 
do this was strong, when there was an instant of forced delay, 
with the enemy in open view. One doing so, however, led 
others to do the same, and, with many thus engaged, the 
impetus of the charge was gone. Then followed a period 
during which the enemy's fire was returned by the Twenty- 
seventh with its usual energy, and doubtless also with its usual 
effectiveness. The line also continued to advance, though not 
rapidly. Men stepped to the front as they loaded, then halted 
to take aim and fire. Many who were thus fearlessly leading, 
or earnestly engaged in cheering others forward, were shot 
while in the act. 

To Adjutant Dougherty is. accorded the credit of first 
recognizing the hopelessness of further sacrifice. His natural 
fighting propensity averaged well up to that of a wild cat, but 
he was cool, calculating and expert. He is said to have first 
suggested that an order to fall back should be given. 

Frequent reference has been made by different persons, to 
the hesitancy with which the men of the Twenty-seventh 
obeyed the order to withdraw, when communicated to them. 
The difficulties in the way of their hearing the order accounts 
for this in part. Of course, their eagerness and determination 
to accomplish their purpose also had much to do with it. It 
can be truthfully said, to the glory of American soldiers, that 
no order was ever given to desist from any desperate, or even 
impossible undertaking, that there were not protests against 
it. And it was true here, as at most other times, when a move 
was ordered by a command engaged in action, men deeply 
engrossed in the work in hand awoke to the fact after the 
movement began, that they were left alone. 

Once faced to the rear, our line moved rapidly, but with- 
out undue haste or disorder, back to the breastworks we had 
crossed in our advance. In these works the regiment spent 
the balance of the day. It has been claimed by some that 



384 HISTOKV OK THE 

the Second Massachusetts built tliese works the day previous^ 
that is, July 2. 

As usual, our color guard was the first to suffer in this 
assault. After the heavy volley mentioned, not more than one 
or two of them remained. Several of the older members were 
still absent, from wounds at Chancellorsville ; but the guard had 
been filled to the maximum of nine members, two days before, 
at Littlestown. Color-Sergeant Files was among the last, if not 
the last, of the nine to go down. With his accustomed fiery zeal 
and courage he waved the colors and pressed forward, challeng- 
ing the men to come on. At length he was severely wounded, 
and following that event, the colors, within a few minutes, 
changed hands so many times that no one has been found able 
to give a connected account of the tragical episode. It is 
especially to be regretted that more than one who, it is 
believed, during that brief interval, fearlessly seized the flag, 
with the laudable purpose of keeping it afloat, was shot dead 
so quickly that his gallant deed was not even definitely noted. 
Persons at some distance saw the colors successively fall- 
ing and being raised again, while those nearer by were too 
much engrossed in the battle to be aware of it. This was 
possible because, owing to the delays caused by this crucial 
experience with the flag, it dropped to the rear somewhat. 
Various claims have been put forward and various statements 
made be^aring upon this subject. The number of persons who, 
at this time, of their own motion, picked up the flag after it 
had fallen, and carried it for brief intervals, until they paid the 
penalty of their loyalty to the glorious old banner with w^ounds 
or death, has been variously stated. Some place it higher than 
the facts seem to warrant. On the other hand, some are evi- 
dently too conservative as to the number. As to names, that 
of Private Christopher Melker, of Company G.is the only one 
furnished. The evidence appears conclusive that he sacrificed 
his life here, rather than see his country's flag fall to the 
ground. 

At a time when the impetus of the charge was about lost, 
Adjutant Dougherty observed the colors prostrate on the 
ground, slightly in rear of the line, as it then was. He 
promptly picked them up and bore them forward himself. 
For a time he courageously flaunted them in the face of 
the enemy, aiming in this way to enspirit and beckon the men 
foiward. The line was almost at a stand-still, however. The 



TWENTV SEVENTH I.N'DIAXA 



885 



men were engaged very energetically loading and firing their 
muskes, but could not seem to make much headwav Til 
enemy s fire was very rapid and effective. Having occasion 
to ^o e, .here, in the line of duty, and not deeming " T 
to detad a sold.er from the already depleted ranks to car.v the 



> 



o 

o 

2 




colors, the Adjutant hastily planted the staff in the soft ground 
of the meadow, and left them standln. H.,. When th^ re^i- 



ment was ordered to fall back Adjutant Dougherty agan. gave 
his attention to the colors. He found them where he had left 



25 



386 HISTORY OF THE 

them but, just as he took them in his hands, a soldier volun- 
teered his services to carry them, and the Ajutant committed 
them to his keeping. Adjutant Dougherty is not able to 
name the soldier, though the statement of another that this was 
Alonzo C. Bugher, of Company B, is not disputed, that the 
writer is aware of. 

Two features of our experience crouching behind those 
low and ineflfectual breastworks, throughout the tedious after- 
noon, and until night closed in, have become memorable with us. 
One was the unusually close and damaging fire from the 
enemy's sharpshooters, to which we were exposed, and the 
other was the piteous, unbearable appeals of our wounded com- 
rades, left behind when we returned from the charge, together 
with the heroic efforts made to recover them. 

The breastworks were not high enough nor sufficiently 
tight to afford complete protection from the direct fire in front, 
They had evidently been constructed in great haste, with 
scanty materials and appliances. Stones, logs and rubbish 
had been piled in a rude windrow, with some dirt added, from 
a shallow trench behind. It required the utmost watchfulness 
not to expose the person above them, while a rifle ball was 
liable to come through in many places. Besides the fire from 
the front, the enemy held the ground beyond Rock Creek, now 
to our right. In fact, the house and locky ledges on the hill, 
beyond the creek, were reallv somewhat behind us, and the 
sharp-shooters with which they were infested had a raking 
fire along our line, rather from our rear. Had it not been for 
the timber, our position would have been wholly untenable. 
The tops of the trees, standing on the lower ground, between 
lis and the enemy, projected up and concealed us largely from 
their view. The thick branches served, also, to stop or deflect 
their bullets to a considerable extent. With some exceptions, 
the file of the enemy seemed to be at random. Stray shots 
would find their way to us, from several directions, at almost 
any time and without provocation. There were some points, 
however, where they had an open range. It was impossible 
for any one to remain long in one of these places and escape 
injury. In one or two instances persons disregarding this fact 
paid the penalty with their lives. All in all, the situation 
was critical. Four of the Twenty-seventh were killed and 
from fifteen to twenty were wounded here, during the after- 
noon. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 887 

But some had to have their fun, even under such circum- 
stances. After learning of the specially exposed points along 
the breastworks, they amused themselves by the common trick 
of holding a cap above the works at those points, on a stick or 
ramrod. It was done deftly, as if a soldier might be peeping 
over. Such efforts were usually rewarded by a close shot, 
frequently piercing the cap. 

This ruse was also worked for another and more practical 
purpose. Men watched with muskets at a ready, while 
another operated the decoy. If a gray form appeared over 
the enemy's breastworks, or even a puff of smoke arose, in 
response to the exposed cap, Union compliments were sent in 
that direction instantly. This was not all. No need to imagine 
that the men of the Twenty-seventh spent this time wholly in 
cringing or hiding. All the afternoon they were busy, if by 
hook or crook, they might fire a shot where it was likely to do 
execution. The problem was, how to keep up the supply of 
ammunition. If the enemy was not made to suffer in propor- 
tion to the injury he inflicted upon us, he is welcome to the 
odds. 

It has always appeared mysterious to us why the hill, 
across the creek, opposite our position, was permitted to re- 
main in possession of the enemy. In fact, why that exposed 
flank of their line was not attacked as a means of driving 
them from Gulps Hill, and of winning the battle, was not 
apparent. Part of the time, at least, the troops were at hand 
to do this. There may have been obstacles in the way, not 
known to us. Once or twice artillery was brought to bear 
upon the house from which the sharp-shooters annoyed us so 
much ; but, if they vacated it for the time, they returned again 
as soon as the artillery ceased. 

If a battery could have found a position somewhere near 
the Twenty-seventh, it would have had opportunities to do 
execution that are seldom afforded. During the combat with 
Geary's division the enemy, after each repulse, would fall 
back behind Gulps Hill. They could be seen from our posi- 
tion, flocking out of the timber like droves of sheep. They 
were largely beyond the range of our muskets, but artillery, 
throwing canister, or spherical case, it seemed to us, might have 
mowed them down in windrows. 

Two other incidents, which occurred while we were in 
the cramped position behind the low breastworks, will be 



388 IIISTOIIY OF THE 

remembered. One of our lieutenants, tliinking to rest his 
tired limbs, and at the same time get an enlari^ed view of the 
surroundings, tried standing up behind a small tree. It was 
not large enough to cover him entirely, but by standing with 
his side to it, only a small part of his clothing and possibly a 
little of his body, was exposed. Hardly had he assumed the 
position, when spat, spat, spat, three balls, in quick succession, 
struck the tree immediately opposite him. At this the lieu- 
tenant drew the laugh upon himself by promptly resuming his 
place in the trench. 

Later in the day, three rebels grew weary of their situa- 
tion along Rock Creek, exposed to the hot sun as they were, 
and where they could not get back to their own side without 
great exposure, so they concluded that they would come in 
and surrender. But before they reached our lines, their own 
men, supposing they were deserting probably, opened fire 
upon them. They therefere stopped in doubt as to what they 
should do. At this Colonel Colgrove leaped over the breast- 
works and, running down to where they were, brought them 
in. It \vas rather an unusual proceeding for a brigade.com- 
inander, but it worked all right. Why he was not hurt was 
miraculous. 

As to the episode of our wounded : Some of them laid 
out, not only without surgical aid, but wholly exposed to the 
scorching rays of the sun, and without water, until darkness 
made it possible to go to their assistance. This was only those 
not able to move without help, however, and who had not 
received it earlier. If the assault was made as earh' as seven 
A, M,, or even at nine or ten A. M., the suffering involved is 
too severe to contemplate. 

After the regiment returned from the unsuccessful assault, 
the stretcher-bearers continued at their work of carrying in 
the wounded until compelled to desist by the enemy firing 
upon them. After their work became hazardous, to the extent 
that one or more of them was hurt, they continued it until 
positively forbidden by orders. Even after this, personal 
friends, in defiance of orders or danger, went to the rescue of 
some of the poor sufferers. Their outcries from pain and thirst 
and their direct appeals for help were irresistible. In different 
instances they called the names of those who they hoped might 
take pity on them, sometimes calling one after another of the 
names on the roll of their companies. More than one of our 



390 HISTORY OF THE 

men, when they heard their names called in this appealing^ 
way, by mess mates and "bunkies," could bear it no longer. 
Leaping over the breastworks, like men inspired, they rushed 
down to the meadow, gathered the helpless, suffering victim 
in their strong arms, and bore him to a place of safety and 
succor. 

Why the enemy should fire upon an unarmed man, doing 
such a noble deed, is beyond human ken ; but they seemed to 
be especially energetic in doing so. No one ventured upon 
such a mission that did not run the gauntlet of a rain of lead. 

With reference to this rescue of our wounded. Adjutant 
Bryant says, " An incident that occurred soon after the 
Twenty-seventh Indiana had fallen back illustrates the heroic 
quality of its soldiers. Some of its wounded officers and men 
were lying where they had fallen, in the swale. Several 
of the men volunteered to go out and bring them from the 
field, and were severely wounded in the attempt to succor their 
comrades. But this did not deter others from the attempt. It 
became necessary to forbid this deadly exposure. In such 
actions, iorming no part of general history, never finding 
place in our public records, the knightly courage and chivalric 
spirit of the American soldier shone out in deeds worthy of a 
Bayard or a Sidney," 

With reference to w'hat transpired on other parts of the 
field, this third day at Gettysburg, still another requisition is 
made upon Adjutant Bryant. His account of the experience 
common to all of the Third Brigade, can not be improved 
upon. He says, in part, " The silence along the front of our 
line from eleven o'clock until one, boded mischief. All felt 
that a blow was to be dealt somewhere. The enemy were 
massing their artillery. By noon they had one hundred and 
forty-five guns in position in front of our left center, along 
Seminary Ridge, then held by Longstreet and Hill. A large 
number of these were so placed that, if their shells should fly 
over the Union position on Cemetery Ridge, and a little to 
the southward of it, tliey would find their beds in Gulps Hill 
and in tiie ground occupied by our division, 

"At one o'clock Longstreet gives the signal, and one hun- 
dred and thirty eight cannon opened upon us. Our artillery, 
under General Hunt, replies with eighty guns. The enemy's 
fire is largely concentrated upon the point of our line which 
thev intend to assault ; but thousands of the over-shots of their 



TWENTY-SEVENTir IN'DIANA. 391 

guns, planted farther to their left, come shrieking, whirling 
and howling into the woods where our division is croucliing 
in its breastworks. The cannonade, the most terrible ever 
witnessed in the new world, lasted for over an hour. It seemed 
to us much longer, and almost to paralyze our senses. The 
limbs were crashing and falling from the trees above us. Huge 
shells were striking the great rocks about us, either exploding 
or breaking. Others were bursting in the air. Others, with 
spent force, went whirling overhead, with a screeching 
sound, terrible in itself. 

"From glimpses through the woods we could see our 
artillery on Powers Hill suffering terribly ; the poor horses^ 
struck by shell, leaping high in the air and falling dead; the 
cannoneers w'orking their guns with wild energy, w'hile shots 
fell about them at every second. A glimpse on the Baltimore 
pike, which we could get looking up the vista of the swale, 
showed the crowd of w'ounded artillerymen, stragglers and 
non-combatants scampering to the rear. The hour seemed an 
age. Shells are bursting on all sides, in front, in rear, over- 
head. General Meade's headquarters, to the west of our posi- 
tion, on the Taney town road, an old stone farm-house, is rid- 
dled with balls. Some of his staff' are hit; their horses, clus- 
tered about the door, are shot down. It seems almost impos- 
sible to exaggerate the terrific grandeur of that cannonade."' 

It is the writer's understanding that, in the number of 
guns engaged and the energy with w'hich they were served, 
this artillery duel, at Gettysburg, lias never been equaled by 
field batteries, since the dawn of creation. 

From our position we could see next to nothing of the 
infantry engagement which followed — Pickett's famous 
charge, and its successful repulse. It is widely noted. It had 
about it certain theatrical, as well as tragical, features, well 
calculated lo awaken popular interest and applause. Not 
often in the history of the world, have so many and such 
superb soldiers on both sides, met in fierce and deadly conflict, 
in such an open country, with such interesting and {picturesque 
surroundings, and such momentous issues involved. Never 
did men wage war more heroically. Vet this was not the 
battle of Gettysburg, at least not all of it. It was not as con- 
spicuous in actual blood-letting as is sometimes thought. 

The final termination of Pickett's charge, as it appeared 
to us, is also graphically described by Adjutant Bryant. 



892 



HISTORY OF THE 



" Diirin<r this attack and its terriHc musketry lire, on the left 
center, we held our line on Gulps Hill in breathless suspense ; 
for we knew that, with our center broken, the plight of our 




It. 

army war desperate. Soon a wild cheering, so different from 
the rebel yell, swept along our lines towards us. As regi- 
ment after regiment brought the glad Union cheer nearer and 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 398 

nearer, we knew that the issue liad been favorable to our side, 
and a great anxiety was Hfted from our minds. Presently an 
aide from General Meade brought his congratulations, announc- 
ing that the Confederate attack in strong force had been 
repulsed, with great slaughter and the capture of thousands of 
prisoners. What strength we had left was expended in 
cheering." 

Thus the third and decisive day at Gettysburg wore to a 
close. No recollection or written account is in evidence 
relating to any alarm or disturbance during the night which 
followed. It rained quite hard, and many were wet to the skin 
in the morning, though few had been aware of the rain until 
then. Rations were short and, under other circumstances, 
the discomforts might have borne heavily. But from our posi- 
tion, there was no sign of an enemy. General Lee had at 
least drawn his army away from in front of Gulps Hill, With 
the quick intuition that soldiers acquire, and which is seldom 
at fault, it was concluded that, unless our side assumed the 
aggressive, the contest here was over. The victory was ours ! 
How decisive it was, or how much more so it might yet be 
made, we did not greatly exercise ourselves over. That the 
struggle had been unusual in its magnitude we well knew, and 
that of the immeasurable loss, by far the larger part had fallen 
upon the enemy, we could plainly see. We had know^n the 
desperate humiliation and grinding sense of shame that comes 
to soldiers, when compelled to turn their backs upon the battle 
fieki, leaving its trophies of arms and equipments, and its 
priceless treasures of killed and wounded in the hands of the 
enemy ; and to have the other side do so this time, was glor- 
ious. The Fourth of July is often called "The Glorious 
Fourth," perhaps not always with deep sincerity. The mem- 
bers of the Twenty-seventh have no difficulty, in common 
with manv others of their fellow soldiers, in recalling one 
genuinelv glourious Fourth of July. 

When the morning had advanced somewhat, our brigade 
was ordered upon a reconnoissance. Marching back on the 
Baltimore Pike, we again cut across to the Hanover road. On 
that road we marched in to (Gettysburg and, passing through 
the town, returned to our point of starting by way of the 
Baltimore Pike. On tliis circuit, of five or six miles, we 
saw nothing of the enemy, except dead and wounded. We 
had further opportunity, later, of going over considerable por- 



894 



HISTOllY OF THE 



tions of tlie field. Xo pen can describe tlie appeals to sym- 
pathy and the horrors which were there revealed. No imagin- 
ation can picture them, unaided by experience. 

The killed of both armies at (iettysburg aggregated con- 
siderably over five thousand. If this number of dead bodies 
alone were scattered over that space at any time, the sight would 
be one to remember with a shudder, through life. Add to 
this the manner of their death and the condition of their bodies 
— many terribly mutilated and disfigured, now swollen and 
decomposed. — their lips as thick as one's hand, their eyes wide 
open, with glassy, glaring eyeballs, unspeakably hidejus and 







Dead on Field of GErrvsnuvG. 

revolting. Add again, a back ground of an infinite amount 
of guns and parts of guns, scattered everywhere, torn and 
injured clothing and equipments, broken wheels and disabled 
wagons and cannons, hundreds of dead horses and hundreds 
more crippled, poor, mute sufferers, not to blame for war. 
Still another very revolting feature of a great battle-field that 
might not be thought of, if not mentioned, is that the surface 
of the ground, besides being everywhere gashed, seamed and 
trampled, is blackened, greased and besmirched, until one can- 
not think of remaining upon it or near it. .\ member of the 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 395' 

Twenty-seventh says in his diary, with reference to this field, 
" May God spare me from ever witnessing; another such a 
scene," and adds, " I will never again go over a battle-field 
from mere curiosity, before the dead are buried. 

Rather more persons have written about the battle of 
Gettysburg, bearing directly or indirectly upon tlie relation of 
the Twenty-seventh to it, than upon most other points in the 
regiment's history. Considerable that has fallen under the 
writer's eye has been complimentary, some has been eulogistic. 

The ofiicial reports of our commanders are taken up, to 
an unusual degree, by the barest statement of facts, which 
were voluminous and more or less complicated. It has been 
the rule of the writer to quote liberally from these reports, 
but in this case there does not seem to be anything that would 
add to the interest of the narrative, except what is quoted in 
other connections. 

Adjutant Bryant's excellent history of the Third Wiscon- 
sin Volunteers has already been quoted from extensively. 
This volume constitutes not only a clear and concise, though 
modest, record of the one splendid regiment, but is also inci- 
dentally an invaluable contribution to the history of every 
other regiment in the brigade. Of the charge of the Twenty- 
seventh Adjutant Bryant has this to say : "The Twenty-sev- 
enth Indiana, on the right, was terribly exposed, not only 
from the rocks in front, but from the Hank; and after losing 
twenty-three men killed, eight ofticers and seventy-nine men 
wounded, the regiment, seeing how hopeless was the effort to 
carry the position, fell back, under orders." The same author 
adds, in the same connection: " Gen. Edward Johnson, who 
commanded the Confederate forces on Culps Hill, speaks thus 
of the assault of the two regiments: 'In the meantime, a 
demonstration was made in force upon my left and rear. The 
Second Virginia, Stonewall brigade, and Smith's brigade, of 
Early's division, were disposed to meet and check it, which 
was done to our entire satisfaction." ' This is a plain statement 
of the force against which these regiments had to contend in 
that bloody assault — one entire brigade and one extra regiment 
from another brigade — all firing from cover, upon two small 
regiments, charging in the open, besides troops firing on their 
flanks. 

It is very comforting to the survivors of the Twenty-sev- 
enth to have in recent years a more cheerful light thrown 



896 HISTORY OF THE 

upon the lieav}' loss of the regiment at Gettysburg. For a 
time the great sacrifice of life there seemed all the more 
grievous because apparently fruitless. It appears now, how- 
ever, that the assault, though the result of a misconception of 
the situation, or of orders, was not entirely without favorable 
results. On this point Adjutant Bryant says : " The charge 
of the two regiments gave Geary and his supports their 
opportunity. The Confederates had thus their attention 
drawn to their left, and changed a large part of their force to 
resist this danger. This gave Geary an excellent opportunity 
to charge. He did so, supported by other troops. At this 
instant General Ruger came up on the left of our regiment 
(Third Wisconsin) and. seeing the situation and opportunity, 
he ordered Colonel Hawley to bear to the left a little, and go 
in on the right of Geary's line. We did so, the regiment 
crossing the swale at a double quick, by the left flank. Then 
facing to the front, we moved in on Geary's right, and swept 
the rebels over our breastworks, made the day before, and 
down across Rock Creek." 

We are especially fortunate, on several accounts, in 
having a manuscript letter, written by Maj. T. F. Colgrove 
to his young sister shortly after the battle. The major was a 
son of Colonel Colgrove and, as has appeared heretofore, 
served with the Twenty-seventh from the start, beginning as 
sergeant-major. At this time he was probably the youngest 
officer of his rank in the brigade ; but there was not a more 
competent major, or all around tip-top soldier, anywhere. As 
a level-headed, persistent fighter he was " a chip off the old 
block." In that respect one type answered well for both — 
that was a bulldog. This sister, to whom the letter was 
written, was a comely girl, whom we all remember as coming 
frequently to the regiment with her mother. At this time 
she was about twelve. The portions of tiie letter of interest 
in this connection are as follows : 

Camp of Twenty-seventh ) 

Indiana Volunteers, v 

July 22, 18C3. ) 

Dear Sis — Shall I tell you of the fiery ordeal the Twen- 
ty-seventh and Second Massachusetts passed through? When 
the massed attack on the extreme left wing was made, on the 
evening of the second day, the Twelfth Corps boys were 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 397 

ordered to that wing, to support or relieve the line. The 
entire Union line was about six miles long, and we held the 
extreme right of it. But such was the formation that we 
had only about one and a half miles to go to reach the other 
extreme ilank. When we arrived near the position whicii 
was in need of support we formed line of battle and put out 
skirmishers, but by this time the enemy had been checked,, 
and we were soon ordered back to our former position. 

" Chancellorsville number two! The wily enemy had 
driven out the few occupants of our works, during our 
absence, and had taken possession of the same. * * * * 
We fought several little battles during the night, and in the 
morning the fight commenced in earnest. 

" After a few minutes Colonel Colgrove, commanding 
brigade, received orders to advance the line. The aide de 
camp who brought the order to Colonel Colgrove, made a 
mistake. It should have been ' Advance the skirmishers,' 
instead of ' advance the line.' Nineteen dead Massachusetts 
men and eighteen dead Indiana men are the fruit of that 
mistake. 

"The Second Massachusetts was ordered to charge the 
enemy's works on our left and front. The Thirteenth New 
Jersey was ordered to occupy the Second's place, when it 
should be vacated. The colonel of the Thirteenth gave the 
order, ' Right face, by file left, march.' [Describes confus- 
sion resulting from this mistaken order]. 

" Colonel Colgrove saw how it was and, directing Colo- 
nel Carman how to move his men out of the way, added, 
' Colonel Fesler, move your regiment into those works,' 
meaning the Thirteenth's works. But before we reached them, 
we heard Colonel Colgrove say, ' Twenty -seventh charge, 
charge those works in your front! ' 

" By this time the Second had nearly gained the enemy's 
works, and were fighting nobly. The Twenty-seventh rushed 
on, with a cheer; officers vieing with each other as to who 
should be foremost in leading the charge, and the men striv- 
ing to outdo one another in courage and daring. The enemy 
held their fire mostly until we reached a place in the opening, 
not much more than fifty yards from their works. Then, 
what a murderous fire they poured into us! You would need 
to see the melting line to know. The first fire seemed to 



SOS HISTORY OK THE 

knock the three right companies right down. Everything 
living seemed doomed to destruction. 

" But this did not make the men falter one bit. I never 
saw them so determined. Undaunted as ever, they pressed 
on. But we received orders to return to our works. A 
farther sacrifice of life was useless. It was with difficulty 
that we got the regiment back, so enthusiastic were the boys 
in pressing on. They knew who they were fighting, and 
vice versa. It was some of Jackson's old corps, that we 
have met so often. 

"Geary of our Second division, now became engaged 
again, and we had rest, but not quiet. The enemy's sharp- 
shooters were exceedingly annoying. They were in an old 
stone house, to the right of our line of works, and behind some 
huge rocks on a high hill, almost in our rear. They soon 
killed a man of Company A, one of Company D, one of Com- 
pany C, and one of Company K, besides wounding Captain 
Fesler and fifteen or sixteen men." 

Two or three brief expressions have been put in print 
referring to tlie Twenty-seventh at Gettysburg, that have 
pained and irritated the survivors since they first became 
aware of their existence. In the report of the Adjutant 
General of Massachusetts, for 1868, occurs the following : "At 
about seven o'clock orders were given the Second regiment 
and one other, to advance across the open meadow and take 
the position of the enemy." After this follows a description 
of the prompt movement and bloody reception of the Second, 
and the manner of its withdrawal. In the midst of this de- 
scription is interjected this sentence : " The regiment on our 
right falls back in disorder." 

In the sketch also of Lieutenant-Colenel Morse, quoted 
from heretofore, a delightful paper in most respects, occurs 
this statement : " From my position, near the left of the line, I 
could see that we were alone, the Twenty-seventh Indiana 
having broken when half way across the meadow." These two 
expressions are so similar as to suggest their common author- 
ship, but as to that the writer has no positive information. 

It is due Colonel Morse to state that, in response to a let- 
ter of a former officer of the Twenty-seventh, calling his at- 
tention to the words in his paper, he has disclaimed all thought 
or purpose of saying or intimating anything disrespectful or 
discreditable, and speaks cordially of the conduct of the Twen- 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 399 

ty-seventh at Gettysburg and elsewhere. But the writer still 
feels at liberty to express something of the disappointment 
and annoyance that every former member of the Twenty- 
seventh must experience at finding such a statement in print, 
more especially in such a connection. Whatever meaning the 
words were intended to luivc, the natural and unavoidable 
interpretation which readers will put upon them cannot be 
satisfactory to the survivors of the Twenty seventh or to the 
friends of that regiment. Moreover, there is another aspect 
of the case that gives such expressions a much deeper sting. 
It is more than strange, it is amazing, that a few of the battle- 
scarred survivors of one of the regiments of the old brigade 
should meet and listen to a paper, prepared by one of their own 
number, yet such an expression a? this — thoughtful it cannot 
be, much less complimentary — is the only one recorded, indi- 
cating that there was any recollection of another, sister regi- 
ment, with theirs in the same brigade for three years, and here 
at Gettysburg, if not at other places also, sacrificed some of 
their lives in their interest, as well as in the interest of Hag 
and country. This is a species of comradship that kills! 

As to the record in the Adjutant-General's office of Massa- 
chusetts, it will likely stand as it is, until time shall be no 
longer. The undeniable truth is, however, that it conveys erro- 
neous impressions; it cannot fail to do th;it much, even if not 
interpreted as a direct, intentional stigma. It is the more offen- 
sive to those concerned, because so positively contrary to the 
facts, and so uncalled for in every way. 

The Twenty-seventh neither fell back in the sense which 
seems to be implied, that is, because it could not or would not 
stand and face the exigencies of the situation ; nor was there 
disorder in its ranks when it did return to the position from 
which it had started. On the contrary, the Twenty-seventh 
forged ahead and, undaunted and undismayed, it was perse- 
vering in its assigned duty imtil it was ordered to desist and 
return to its own side of the swale. The brigade commander. 
Colonel Colgrove, in his official report of the battle, distinctly 
avows the responsibility for this order. After recounting the 
antecedent facts, he says: "It became evident to me that 
scarcely a man could live to gain the position of the enemy. 
I ordered the regiment to fall back behind its breastworks." 
If the Twenty-seventh had desisted from the attempted as- 
sault solely upon the order of its own commanding ofiicer, 



400 HISTOKV OK THE 

the case would be the same. That is precisely wiiat the 
Second Massachusetts did. not only here, but at Winchester, 
Cedar Mountain and Antietam, as its own records show. 
As far as the writer knows, no word of criticism or insinua- 
tion has ever found expression in any quarter, with refer- 
ence to it. Why should the case be different with another 
regiment ? And, concerning the matter of order, there is 
always more or less rot and affectation in certain quarters in 
an army about "order." The manner in which the Twenty- 
seventh moved away from the point of danger at Gettysburg 
was very much the same as that of the Second in doing the 
same thing. The fact is, both regiments made the movement 
in admirable order. Notwithstanding the bloody resistance 
they had encountered, the tremendous loss they had suffered, 
and the deadly fire to which they were still exposed, they were 
perfectly cool, under the complete control of their officers, 
attentive to commands, and ready to obey any order, whether 
to stand, to advance or to fall back! That, in battle, is sub- 
lime order. 

In addition to the fact that the Twenty-seventh was 
obliged to make a preliminary move under some difficulties, 
and was therefore not able to start abreast with the other regi- 
ment, there are some other facts which it is only fair should 
be understood, now that the question has been raised. The 
meadow was wider at the point where the Twenty-seventh 
was ordered to cross it, made more so in eft"ect by its obliquing 
to the right, as Colonel Colgrove states in his report. The 
enemy was stronger and more advantageously posted at that 
point, their line being longer if not denser in front, with other 
forces to the right and rear. Owing to the convex shape of 
the enemy's line, the Twenty-seventh, when it appeared upon 
the scene, drew the fire away from the other regiment to some 
extent, offering a more conspicuous mark. There were no 
large boulders or trees out any distance in front of the enemy's 
position at the point where the Twenty-seventh confronted 
it, neither did the ground have a conformation offering an}- 
foothold or lodgment. The enemy along Rock creek, in the 
stone house and outbuildings on the bluff" beyond, and crouch- 
ing behind the boulders and ledges of rock farther down, had 
a raking flank fire into the Twenty-seventh as it advanced. 

In these respects, and in others growing out of them, the 
conditions under which the two regiments .operated were 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 401 

somewhat different. There never should have been anv hint 
of disparagement or of invidious comparison in the case. 
Both regiments were foredoomed from the start. Under cir- 
cumstances so overwhehningl}' hopeless, in fact so pitiably 
helpless, very slight incidents were liable to effect considerable 
results, and whatever happened was largely the result of 
chance. 

Possibly more has been said in this connection than should 
be said. The immeasurable gravity of relations such as this 
at Gettysburg tended to foster and almost necessitate intimate 
and even sacred ties between these two regiments. For the 
Second Massachusetts, as an organization, and for a large part 
of the officers and men composing it, the members of the 
Twenty-seventh Indiana have none but words of hearty com- 
mendation. Never, in any of our regimental reunions, or 
where two or more of the Twenty-seventh have talked socially 
together of these army experiences, has the Second failed to 
receive its full share of the praise and good will expressed. 
If any one should impugn the character of any of the regi- 
ments of the old brigade in the presence of a Twenty-seventh 
soldier, he would certainly sufTer for his temerity. But if any 
one asserts, or intimates, that the Twenty-seventh came short 
of any other regiment, or was at any time or place surpassed 
by another, it is the province of this narrative to show that it 
is either a mistake or a calumny.* 

The following letter of Lieutenant-Colonel Francis, also 
of the Second Massachusetts, is self-explanatory : 

Lowell, Mass., August 1st, 1886. 
John R. Rankin, Esq_. , Indianapolis, Ind. : 

My Dear Sir : — I have read with great interest your 
communication of the 17th ult. I am at a loss as to how to 
proceed to reply, for I am surprised beyond measure that any- 
thing should be written derogatory to the fame of the Twenty- 
seventh Indiana. 

My individual opinion is, and I believe my brother offi- 
cers have the same opinion, that no better or more reliable 
regiment existed in the service than the Twenty-seventh Indi- 
ana. Its record of losses places it in the front rank. I have 
just looked over the Massachusetts Adjutant-General's report 



*See Note on Gettysburg Index. 
26 



402 HISTORY OF THE 

(1863) of the part taken by the .Second Massachusetts at 
Gettysburg, As I read it I can see no intended reflection cast 
upon the dction of the Twenty-seventy Indiana in falling back 
as they did (although if it was to be written now a clearer 
explanation would appear), for the same could have been said 
of the Second Massachusetts, or any other regiment, attempt- 
ing the same thing. It meant annihilation and, under the cir- 
cumstances, it became imperative to fall back, without regard 
to order. 

I hope to forward your letter to General Gordon, with a 
suggestion that it would be well for him to answer that part 
of your letter that refers to his treatment of the Twenty- 
seventh Indiana, for I believe it was far from his intention to 
write one word that could offend a member of your regiment. 
I send you by this mail two pamphlets, prepared for the Second 
Massachusetts Association. One of them tells, in a feeble way, 
of the plucky work done by the Twenty-seventy Indiana at 
Chancellorsville and illustrates the opinion that the Second 
Massachusetts then had, now have and ever will have, of your 
noble and perfectly reliable regiment. 

Very respectfully yours, 

James Francis. 

This gentleman followed Colonel Morse as lieutenant- 
colonel of the Second. In connection with the cordial and 
"appreciative expressions of his letter, it is fitting that the fact 
should be mentioned here, as it was a fact, that a large part of 
the enthusiasm and impetuosity exhibited by the men of the 
Twenty-seventh, in the charge at Gettysburg, was because they^ 
in large part, were under the impression that the regiment 
Xvas making the charge, not so much to assault the enemy's 
position, as to succor the Second Massachusetts and relieve it 
from a perilous situation. This impression was natural 
because the Second had started first, and because of the further 
fact that, when the Twenty-seventh had swung around, so 
that the scene of the conflict was fairly open to their view, 
the dominant features of the field were the killed and wounded 
of the Second covering the ground, with the remnant hotly 
engaged down in the meadow. This understanding of the 
matter must also have prevailed in the Second, to a greater or 
less extent. At the National Encampment of the Grand 
Army of the Republic, at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1895, the 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 403 

writer and other members of the Twenty-seventh, chanced 
to meet a former member of the old Second Massacluisetts. 
He- expressed himself as delighted to see them as they were 
more than delighted to see him. And one of the first things 
he said was, '' By giacious, I never shall forget how grandly 
the old Twenty-seventh Indiana came to the rescue, of the 
Second at Gettysburg!" 

The visitor to the battlefield of Gettysburg will now find, 
standing upon one of the large boulders, behind which our 
wounded took shelter at the edge of that now sacred meadow, 
i\ small, unpretentious granite shaft, erected by the State of 
Indiana. An inscription upon it reads as follows : 

This Monument Marks the Spot Over 
Which the Left Wing of the 

Twenty-Seventh Indiana Advanced, in 
A Charge by the Regiment, on 

THE Morning of July Third, 1863. Num- 
ber Engaged, 839. Killed and 
WOUNDED, 110. 

Further up in the same meadow, upon another boulder, 
stands another modest shaft, erected by the survivors and 
friends of the vSecond Massachusetts. The two are quite 
similar in size and design. An inscription on this last reads : 

From the Hill Behind This Monument, on 
the Morning of July Third, 

1863, THE Second Massachusetts Infantry 
Made an Assault Upon the 

Confederate Troops at the Base of Culps 
Hill, Opposite. The Regiment 

Carried Into the Charge, 22 Officers 
and 294 Enlisted Men. It Lost 

4 officers and 41 Men Killed and Mor- 
tally Wounded, and 6 Officers 
and 94 Men Wounded. 

Neither story is overembellished in the telling. Moderate 
in size, design and cost, neither of these monuments appeals 
to the unthinking and sensuous. But standing there side by 
side, day and night, in shine and storm, through heat and 




Monument of Twenty-seventh Indiana, on Field 

OF Gettysburg. 

The regiment was posted in the timber behind tlie nn)nument. In the 
charge it came down the slope, passing over the ground where the monu- 
ment now stands and out into the open meadow. The granite boulder upon 
which the monument stands was there during the battle, and some of our 
wounded laid behind it all day. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 405 

cold, as the faithful sentinels of the two regiments so often 
stood in the old days, they will forever continue to tell, to 
those who will reflect upon it, a thrilling story of courage, 
daring and sacrifice. The men whose immortal conduct they 
severally commemorate came, at the call of duty, from widely 
separated homes, and they differed as widely in former occu- 
pations, habits and associations. Each had provincialisms of 
speech and manner, strange, if not grotesque, to the other. 
But they were one in a common love and loyalty for a com- 
mon country and flag, and friendly rivals only as to which 
should be the best soldiers of the Republic and go the farthest 
and sacrifice the most, even unto death. 

The dead of the Twenty-seventh at Gettysburg were 
eventually removed, as were all the other Union dead, to the 
National Cemetery. This is located upon the high ground 
immediately adjoining the citizens' cemetery, which gave name 
to the historic ridge. The National Cemetery did not impress 
the writer as being quite equal, either in its arrangement or 
the condition in which it is kept, to other places of the kind 
he has visited. Still it is a most sightly place. Overlooking, 
as it does, a large part of the battlefield, one cannot stand 
among its circling rows of modest headstones and look abroad 
upon the vast number of monuments, and the pieces of ar- 
tillery, marking the positions of the various commands on the 
field, without deep and surging emotions. 

"With footsteps slow let travelers go, 

And move with solemn tread, 
Above these cherished mounds so low 

Where sleep our patriot dead. 

" Their warm heart's blood poured freely forth 

Our Nation's life to save. 
If there's a sacred spot on earth, 

It is these soldiers' graves." 

This cemetery has one distinction which will always en- 
dear it to those who, for other reasons, are equally interested 
in others. It will be forever closely associated with the death- 
less name of Lincoln. His brief oration, delivered when the 
site was formally set apart for its present use, will continue 
as one of the gems of the English language as long as that 
language has an existence or a history. Even the fact that he 
was present, and took part in the ceremonies of the dedica- 
tion, can never be forgotten. 



406 HISTORY OF THE 

It was an especial disappointment to the writer to find so 
many of the graves marked " unknown, "^ and the names on 
the headstones of so many others evidently misspelled. This 
rendered it impossible to identify or count the graves contain- 
ing the remains of our own honored dead. There are eighty 
graves in all, in the space allotted to Indiana. How well do 
we know that all of them, and the hundreds from other states, 
who here have found a resting place, are richly entitled to the 
distinction of those, 

'•***** O'er whose tomb 
Immortal laurels ever bloom." 

Colonel Fox gives the loss of the Twenty-seventh at 
Gettysburg, at 24 killed and mortally wounded ; wounded, 
not mortally, 86. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



BACK TO THE RAPPAHANNOCK. 

On the morning of the 5th, it was early known that the 
enemy had abandoned the battle-field of Gettysburg entirely. 
History will doubtless blame General Meade for allowing him 
to get away without at least attempting to strike him a fatal 
blow, or, failing in that, without moving more promptly and 
with more energy, to strike one later. In failing to do either 
he gave indisputable evidence that, at this time at least, 
he was lacking in some of the qualities of a great general. The 
men of the army had no other thought only that an advance 
would be ordered from some point on our line on tlie 4th. 
When this was not done, orders to move, with the view of 
gaining some other position of advantage, were momentarily 
expected, night and day.. 

Finally, on the evening of July 5th, we moved back to 
Littlestown. We could see that the move was general, the 
entire corps being along, but the march was not an urgent 
one. There did not seem to be any hurry in any quarter. 
The next day we marched still more leisurely, making only 
seven miles, in the direction of Frederick. But on the 7th, 
w^e moved as if a decision had finally been reached, and, 
somebody knew what it was. General Slocum says of this, 
" Although many of the men were destitute of shoes, and all 
greatly fatigued, by the labor and anxiety of a severely con- 
tested battle, as well as the heavy marches which had pre- 
ceded it, a march of twenty-nine miles was made this day." 

Just out of Frederick westward, we were considerably 
shocked to see the body of a man dangling at the end of a 
rope. It was looped with a cutting tightness around the 
neck, while the other end was securely fastened to the limb of a 
tree. We were still more shocked when we discovered that 
we knew the man. lie had frequently been in our camps, a 
small, sandy complected fellow, apparently not in good health, 
and not prepossessing in any way. His avowed mission was 
selling maps and songs. A day or two previous to this, posi- 



408 HISTORY OF THE 

tive evidence had come to light that his real business was that 
of a rebel spy. He was, therefore, hung up without ceremony. 

There has been no little contention in recent years, among 
the thousands who witnessed this ghastly spectacle, as to 
whether the tree that served this patriotic purpose was an 
apple tree, or of some other species. The question is certainly 
not important. When the writer saw the body it was with- 
out clothing except a shirt. 

After passing through Frederick, we were moving or 
camping mostly among familiar scenes again, and were bewil- 
dered every day by the changed conditions that these army 
maneuvers can bring about. Our marches were at first over 
the identical roads we had traveled going to the battle of 
Antietam. After arriving in the vicinity of that battlefield, 
many of the roads and most of the villages were those with 
which we had become well acquainted on our marches after 
the battle of Antietam, and during our sojourn at Dam Num- 
ber Four. Crampton's Pass, Boonsboro, Keedyville, Smoke- 
town, Fair Play, and, finally, Williamport, recalled former 
experiences. The prospect of fighting another battle here, 
where everything was so quiet and peaceful less than a year 
ago, when we were last here, was another object lesson to us 
that, " It is the unexpected that happens in war." 

Roundabout and dilly-dally as our marches had been, 
favored by a flood in the Potomac river, and numerous other 
impediments to the enemy's march, we overtook him before 
he could escape into Virginia. His two points for crossing 
were Falling Waters, near Dam Number Four, and Williams- 
port. His line of defense was drawn from one of these 
places to the other, in a semi-circle bowing outward. He had 
selected positions strong naturally, and had had time to for- 
tify quite thoroughly. 

The closely drawn lines around the enemy's position, the 
repeated building and strengthening of breast-works for our- 
selves, the hourly and sometime momentary expectation that 
we would receive orders to attack, the frequent moves and 
maneuvers which tended to increase that expectation, and the 
dreadfully hard rain that fell just when we finally thought the 
supreme moment had come, — all of these facts, and many 
others — we will all recall. The time from July 11th to the 
14th was consumed in that way. 

The writer's impression is that the men of the Twenty- 



twenty-sp:ventii Indiana. 409 

seventh were not sanguine about attacking this fortified posi- 
tion. It is possible that the bulk of the army did not share 
our misgivings about it. An experience such as we had just 
had at Gettysburg, of being hurled against breastworks, was 
one that men did not commonly care to repeat very often. 
We were eager, as usual, to have something done, and, it is 
hoped, did not ask exemption from doing our share of what- 
ever was decided upon ; but the feeling of the regiment must 
have been one of relief, if not of positive gladness, when it was 
known that the enemy had withdrawn. Whatever unneces- 
sary delays had been permitted before this, or whatever mis- 
takes had been made, leading to inaction, the remedy was not 
to be found in a rash course here. Surely some move was 
possible by which we could have it out with our antagonists 
under more favorable conditions than these. Those critics 
who inveigh against General Meade for not assaulting Lee's 
position at this point are themselves at fault, if what we ot the 
Twenty-seventh saw coupts for anything. Repeated instances 
in the history of the war impress the lesson that it is folly and 
crime to try to make up by recklessness and sacrifice, in assault- 
ing strong, fortified positions, for what had been lacking 
before, in energy and forethought. 

The escape of Lee across the Potomac meant for us a 
return to the Rappahannock. It was a long ways oflF, but it 
was our inevitable destination. This was the common under- 
standing among the men. Of course there was talk about our 
advance getting possession of gaps, heading off the enemy 
and forcing him into battle, intercepting his trains, so richly 
laden with Pennsylvania plunder, and so on. But if such 
statements were put in circulation for the purpose of mislead- 
ing any large part of the army, they failed signally. If General 
Meade had published the fact in orders, stating in so many 
words, that he expected to move cautiously along, covering 
Washington, until Lee reached a position south of the Rappa- 
hannock, his soldiers would not have been more convinced 
that that w^as reallv his plan. 

A glance at the map will show that from Williamsport, 
Alaryland, to Kelly's Ford, or Rappahannock Station, Vir- 
ginia, is a long walk. In making the distance we marched 
almost three hundred miles. Considerable of the way was 
through a country we had seen before. The first day after 
leaving Williamsport took us over the battlefield of Antietam, 



410 HISTORY OF THE 

through Sharpsburg, and on to Maryland Hights. In the days 
succeeding, we camped awhile in Pleasant Valley, near Sandy 
Hook, on ground that we had occupied on two former occa- 
sions. For a third time we crossed the Potomac at Harper's 
Ferry, thereby invading the Old Dominion for the fourth 
time. For the second time we passed under the end of 
Loudon Hights, marching on to Hillsborough. For the fourth 
time we camped near Snickersville, and so on. 

From Harper's Ferry, through Hillsborough, vSnickersville 
and Upperville, thence through Manassas and Thoroughfare 
Gaps, to Hay Market, we found it a rough, though not an over- 
taxing journey. The roads, besides being hilly and uneven, 
had not been improved, and did not seem to 1-ead to any par- 
ticular point. One night we marched until very late, and, 
footsore and weary, we waded an indeterminate number of 
creeks, or waded the same creek an indeterminate number of 
times. After we finallv came up with other troops and 
stopped for the night, a member of another regiment asked 
one of our boys whether we had found anv creeks on the way. 
He replied, "Yes, we found one, but we struck the darned 
thing end-ways," 

One of these late marches — this one or another — was pro- 
longed and made more annoying and wearisome, by halts and 
countermarches, as it was reported, on account of a too-liberal 
use of " commissary." Another night, not long after taps, 
following a hot, toilsome day, a heavy thunder-shower, with 
a whirlwind accompaniment, came along. Alost of our 
" pup "-tents fell flat when we needed them worst. It is 
never quite to. one's liking to be rudely awakened in the early 
stages of a much-needed sleep, and be forthwith turned out in 
the darkness and rain, in one's shirt tail. Who except these 
Twenty-seventh soldiers. could accept such a position with any 
equanimity? They howled with delight. To them it was all 
very funny. 

This was again the season for berries, and we had as 
many as we could use. There was also a fair supply of apples 
in the orchards along the way, though not always a wholesome 
variety. The weather was mostly hot in the day time, but 
the nights were cool. When we camped, a few pickets were 
put out to keep faithful vigil, while all the others slept like 
children at home. This long march, therefore, was something 
like a summer outing. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 411 

The writer happened to be near the Colonel and Surgeon, 
on some temporary detail, when the regiment was moving out 
of camp the morning we left Sandy Hook. While the sym- 
pathetic and faithful Surgeon sat on his horse his skillful eyes 
rested intently upon the bronzed, lean and haggard athletes in 
the ranks, as they filed by, in their soiled uniforms and their 
unkempt beard and hair. At length he said : " Colonel, these 
boys, almost every one of them, are sick enough to be in bed, 
if they only knew it." A campaign of over a month, with 
its accompanying incidents — its march of four hundred miles, 
its exposure to heat, dust and rain; irregular, poorly cooked 
and often insufficient food ; frequently shut up to abominable 
water and as frequentl)'^ tempted by famishing thirst to drink 
too much, whether good or bad ; meager opportunities to wash 
the person or clothes ; no such thing as unbroken sleep or 
rest, and, above all, and added to all, the indescribable wear 
and tear of the battle and its issues, who can tell what it was 
to go through one such? But when we finally came out of 
the broken and mountainous region of country and found our- 
selves in the open, level section north of Warrenton, Virginia, 
we were really in fair condition again. We had recuperated 
on the march. 

At the little town of Greenwich, after we had passed the 
Bull Run mountains, we had an object lesson on the power 
of a rag. A house or houses (whether one or more the writer 
does not recall), surrounded by considerable enclosures, were 
wholly undisturbed by the deluge of war surging aromid 
them. Patches of corn in roasting ear, thrifty vegetables 
growing beautifully, trees laden with ripe, luscious apples 
and other tempting fruits, fences in perfect repair — not a stick 
amiss or a thing molested. All around, everywhere else, was 
utter desolation. Between the two armies everything in sight 
had been taken or destroyed. Why this single exception? 
Nothing but this : Over this property waved a very small 
English flag! Yet there are people who say there is nothing 
in a flag, save a little sentiment. 

We reached the Orange and Alexandria railroad at Cat- 
letts Station. As we approached Warrenton Junction, appre- 
hensive that we might run into an outpost of the enemy, a 
locomotive suddenly whistled behind us and a long train oi 
loaded cars at once rolled past. The train reached the station 
fully abreast of our skirmish line. Tliis was more energy 



412 HISTORY OF THE 

and enterprise than we had ever before seen in the "cracker 
department." It ahnost equaled what we saw a year later, 
in Georgia. There, as the army advanced, the bridge-builders 
were so expeditious that the railroad trains beat the infantry 
soldiers across some of the streams. 

We tarried at Warrenton Junction for a short time. 
General Slocum had his headquarters in a large plantation 
house, half a mile north of the station, on the east side of the 
railroad. We again found water scarce in this vicinity, until 
some one thought of the unusual expedient of digging down 
to the under-drains, or tile, on the improved land. In that 
way an unfailing supply of reasonably good water was 
obtained. 

July 31, our division advanced to the Rappahannock, at 
Kelly's Ford. The next morning the Twenty-seventh crossed 
the river. Companies F and G were sent forward as skir- 
mishers, and the column swung out as though we might be 
leading the way straight to Richmond. But, after going a 
bare mile, we halted temporarily, as it appeared at first. 
Later we went into bivouac and remained there three days, 
when we tamely returned to the north bank of the river. 
Nothing has ever come to light explaining the reasons for this 
show of boldness. A considerable drove of cattle, and another 
smaller one of sheep, were confiscated on the south side of the 
river by the quartermaster's department and driven over. 
There were also extensive confiscations of potatoes, roasting 
ears and vegetables of various kinds, with a few pigs and 
calves added ; though the quartermaster's department will 
have enough to answer for without being charged with these. 

We remained here in a quite way, swimming and fishing 
in the river, cleaning up and mending our clothing and equip- 
ments, reorganizing and drilling a little, until the ICth of 
August. One of these days was a day of fasting and prayer, 
religiously observed, it is to be hoped, by at least a few. It 
was not very religiously observed by the majority. People in 
the army were too much like they are at home for that. No 
rations were issued that day, but if any one had rations left 
over there was no law against him eating them. Another one 
of these days, rather more to the liking and habits of the 
average soldier, was pay day. The pay master again settled 
with us for two months service. 

Of course, one of our duties here was to maintain the 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 418 

inevitable picket line. Naturally enough this was established 
along the river. The Rappahannock at this point is never 
very formidable, not being over seventy-five yards wide. It 
was now very low and could be easily forded, almost any 
place. This seemed to be the occasion of not a little anxiety, 
particularly in higher official circles, perhaps with reason. 
Orders to the pickets were very strict, accompanied by many 
cautions and mysterious intimations of impending dangers. 

One very dark night in particular, when it was raining 
gently, a New Jersey officer of the day took it into his head 
that our picket line was going to be " gobbled up," as the 
boys expressed it, unless something unusual was done to pre- 
vent it. Consequently he ordered that not a soul on picket 
should, on any account, have a particle of sleep. 

It chanced that day, that the detail from the Twenty- 
seventh, from thirty to fifty men, had mostly been assigned 
to one station. The detail was in charge of a corporal, acting 
as a sergeant. It will be remembered that, after the battle of 
Gettysburg, the size of commands were often greatly out of 
proportion to the rank of the officer. 

This corporal saw what labor he was going to have in try- 
ing to keep his men awake, and that it would probably end in 
failure and consequent trouble. So, he decided upon a plan 
of his own. Calling his men around him he asked them 
whether, if he should try to favor them, they would appreciate 
it enough to do what they could to help him out with it. Then 
he explained that, if they would all lie down where he could 
easily find them, with their accoutrements in easy reach, and 
would have the situation sufficiently in mind so that they 
would be at themselves as soon as awakened, the two reliefs 
not on post might all go to sleep. He would himself do the 
watching, both for the enemy and the Grand Rounds. 

No need to relate that all were ready to promise, and, as 
it developed, they all kept their promise to the letter. 

All went well, and the night wore away. The reliefs 
were changed regularly, on sharp time, and, as far as known, 
every man on post was wide awake and watchful. Whenever 
a relief came in, the men at once snuggled themselves under 
their rubber blankets, and were soon sound asleep. 

Along towards morning, the corporal was sitting alone in 
the murky darkness, the rain was pattering gently, but every- 
thing else was as silent as the grave. He had been a little 



414 HISTORY OF THE 

uneasy with reference to tlie outcome of his disregard of 
instructions, and his nerves were at a high tension. His ears 
were strained to catch every sound, from ever}- direction. 
When he was just thinking that, in all probability, the officer 
of the day would not come now, after all, his sharp ears 
detected the faintest click of a saber, only a short distance 
away. Instantly he was after his men. One by one he 
caught them by the shoulders and fairly stood them upon their 
feet. In a trice it was, " Who comes there? Halt, Grand 
Rounds! Advance, Sergeant, and give the countersign. 
Turn out the guard, the Grand Rounds! etc, etc." 

Then the officer of the day fairly exhausted himself in 
complimenting the Twenty-seventh men. They could always 
be depended upon, they could. Nowhere else had he been 
so received. He would like to see the enemy that could catch 
the Twenty-seventh soldiers napping. And more in the same 
vein. He will likely never know, unless he reads these pages, 
what arrant hypocrits and pretenders those Indiana men could 
he on occasion. 



CHAPTER XXVIl. 



NEW YORK. 

We were now about to have an experience that was quite 
out of the ordinary for soldiers serving in the field, in time of 
active hostilities. We were to have a ten days' visit to the 
commercial metropolis of the country — New York City. 

Uncle Sam is much like other uncles, with some differ- 
ences. Like the general run of uncles, he has an eye to busi- 
ness. When he has people about him, eating at his table and 
enjoying his favors, he aims that they shall earn what they get. 
And if, when they are in his employ, he gives them a play-spell 
or sends them away on a pleasure trip, so called, he is pecu- 
liarly unclelsh in having some scheme for his own advantage 
back of it. That was undeniably true in this instance. 

Uncle Sam's method of procedure in this case will also 
remind some of the course of other uncles, at other times. He 
did not come to us and say, " Boys, you have been doing well 
lately. I appreciate your services very much. I have, there- 
fore, arranged a little trip for you. Here are your tickets, and 
here is a little pocket money; go and have a good time." 
Uncles seldom do that way. On the contrary, Uncle Sam was 
hardly ever so close mouthed with us as he was at this time. 
So far from informing us where he was sending us, and mak- 
ing some special provision for our enjoyment of the trip, he 
was unusually careful to withhold from us every vestige of 
information on these points. Not the least sign or hint did 
he permit us to have by which we could guess our destination 
or make any estimate of what we might find it agreeable to 
have along with us. It is doubtful, indeed, whether on any 
other occasion, during the three years or more that we 
remained in intimate relations with him, his success was so 
marked in keeping us from prying into these things, some- 
how. It was proof positive that he could be shrewd and self- 
contained when he tried. In this case the matter he was 
expecting us to look after was one that put him on his 
mettle. 



41G HISTORY OF THE 

A few days after the battle of Gettysburg there had been 
a serious riot in New York. It was not complimentary to 
that city, as some things we saw and heard after our arrival 
there were not, but maddened crowds of men had assembled 
themselves and committed numerous depredations and crimes, 
including arson and murder. The provocation was that a 
draft was then in progress, deciding who should serve in the 
army. These hoodlums did not want to go to the army, there- 
fore they raised mobs and rushed into the places where the 
draft was being conducted, scattered the men engaged in the 
work and siezed and destroyed the draft lists and other neces- 
sary articles. Their lawlessness went to the extent also of 
hanging innocent and unoft'ending negroes upon lamp posts, 
and burning a colored orphan assylum, containing over TOO 
homeless orphans. They committed these last outrages because 
they had been told that the war was being waged in the inter- 
est of the negroes. 

The reason for troops being sent to New York at this 
time was to prevent a repetition of these things. New draft 
lists had been prepared and another draft was about to be 
made. Several thousand veterans from the Army of the Po- 
tomac were therefore to be on hand. Any disorder, or resist- 
ance to law, was to i"eceive their attention. 

On the 15th of August we received orders to get ready for a 
move, and the next morning we started. In all such cases in 
the army, the question of destination is raised forthwith. 
Sometimes it is easily inferred by what can be seen, or from 
what presently transpires. At other times, it is divulged by 
some one who knows, and soon comes to be an open secret 
with all. In this instance, however, those who knew, if 
any did, kept it well to themselves ; and all signs by 
which we usually judged were either absent or indefinite 
and contradictory. Our brigade commander. General Ruger, 
was going along, with his staff and belongings, but not 
all of his regiments. We were ordered to go " light," that 
is, to leave some of our heavier baggage behind, but we 
were taking so much along that it might not be necessary 
for us to return after the balance. One of the most puzzling 
facts was that the officers were ordered to take their horses, 
and that remains a puzzle to this day. They had no use 
for them and were not likely to have. 

We marched directly to Rappahannock Station. There 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 417 

we found trains of flat cars, which we were ordered to board, 
and, without dehiy, started northward. The ride to Alex- 
andria was very enjoyable. It was a lovely Sunday after- 
noon, clear, cool and calm. Almost every mile of tlie way 
was as familiar to us as the old path to school, at home. 
We could recall many things, as we passed along, that had 
transpired here and there. How indelibly the region between 
the Potomac and the Blue Ridge was imprinted upon the 
memories of thousands of Northern men, during the e\eiit- 
ful years of the war ! 

Riding on flat cars, without seats, would not ordinarily 
be considered a very luxurious mode of travel. It must be 
remembered, however, that this was the first ride of any kind,^ 
except the short one from near IIoo>ier City to Sandy Hook, 
that most of us had taken since our first arrival at Washing- 
ton. Two thousand miles and more of foot-travel, as soldiers 
go, was a good preparation for enjoying almost any kind of a 
railroad ride. 

At Alexandria we marched to an open square, or com- 
mon, in the western edge of the town and went into bivouac, 
— of a very temporary kind. There was not room to take 
half the regular distances, and poles and stakes suitable for 
putting up our tents were not available. Still, we were- 
fairly comfortable. The ground occupied by the Twenty- 
seventh wa-i grassy and clean, and the weather remained dry 
and warm. 

We learned subsequent}' that eleven regiments were- 
detailed for this expedition. Most of them were Western^ 
regiments, presumably because they would be less liable to 
have kindred or other alliances in Xcw York that might 
interfere with their service. A few Eastern regiments were 
sent, among them being the Second Massachusetts of our bri- 
gade. This was another indication of the prestige of the 
Third Brigade. Three of its regiments were detailed for this 
picked expedition, with the brigade commander in charge of 
the whole. 

We remained at Alexandria from Sunday until Wednes- 
day, waiting for boats to transport us. We had surmised as 
much, though there was little to indicate it. And, if we were 
to go on by water, it was a natural inference that our destina- 
tion was some point along the rivers or sea-coast of Virginia 

or North Carolina. 
27 



418 HISTORY OK THE 

While at Alexandria we had no camp guards. The only 
restraint anyone was under to remain in camp was the evident 
liability of an instant move. There was some going about, 
but the privilege was not abused. Peddlers abounded. The 
ubiquitous " commissary " was also in evidence. The 
regiments occupying the ground next to ours were from Ohio. 
They put up more old fashioned fist-fights than the writer has 
ever witnessed anywhere else, in the same length of time. 
Every few minutes, as it now seems, the cry of " fight " was 
raised. Sure enough, if one cared to look, a regular set-to 
was on hand. Neither the officers, nor any one else, seemed 
disposed to interfere in these knock downs, except to see fair 
play. 

On Wednesday, the 18th, under orders, we marched 
through the town of Alexandria to the river front, and 
immediately embarked upon the steel propeller Merrimac. 
As soon as the required number were aboard she swung out 
into the stream and dropped her anchor. She drew too much 
Avater to navigate the Potomac at night. We were, therefore, 
to wait until morning. 

To us land-lubbers, the Merrimac seemed a ship of 
immense size, and a curiosity in many ways. Up to this time 
the only water crafts we had seen were such as then navigated 
our smaller western rivers. At this date a screw propeller 
was a little new on the ocean. 

Tlie Merrimac had been built for carrying freight mostly, 
having a small cabin and few state rooms. The Third Wis- 
consin and Second Massachusetts, of our brigade, along with 
our regiment and the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Ohio, 
iof another brigade, this last almost as large as the other three, 
'easily found room and shelter in her spacious apartments. She 
was registered as having a carrying capacity of nearly 2,000 
tons and, while we were aboard, drew 16 feet of water. Her 
■huge compound engines and polished steel machinery, work- 
ing so silently, with scarcely ajar or quiver, caused our inex- 
perienced eyes to bulge out not a little. 

The soldiers were allowed the liberty of the ship, except 
state rooms and cabin. We had our regular rations with us. 
Coffee was cooked in bulk, by steam. In other respects we 
lived as usual. With our blankets, we slept upon the bare 
floor. The officers boarded at the ship's table. 

Early on the morning of the 19th, with much shouting 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 419 

iiiid jollity on the part of the soldiers assisting in the work, 
and much creaking and grating of chains, the capstan went 
rounil and round and the anchor came slowly up. Then, 
with a tremor throughout her whole anatomy, the great 
leviathan turned her prow down stream and started on the 
voyage. 

Just at that point Uncle Sam did a very gracious thing. 
He removed the only restraint there was upon our enjoyment 
of the situation, by telling us where we were going. We 
were on our way to New York City. We were to have an 
all day ride down the Potomac, and across the Chesapeake 
bay. Then, on the bosom of the wide Atlantic, we were to 
sail to our destination. How delightful it all was! Of 
course, we were taking our guns with us, and we had not 
emptied the cartridges out of our boxes, either. Neither were 
they blank cartridges, such as had been used in New York 
before. But if it was agreeable to have all visions of the river 
and coast regions of Virginia and North Carolina dispelled, 
as with a magician's wand, it was no drawback to reflect that 
we had our muskets along where we were going, and had 
something to load them with. If there was any one thing 
that the average Twenty-seventh soldier desired more than 
xmothcr, at that period, it was to have a good, fair shot at an 
out-and-out Northern Copperhead. 

Long distances of travel are not new to the writer now ; 
but the supreme enjoyment of that quiet sail down the 
Potomac, on that far away August day, is as fresh in memory 
at the present hour as if had occurred only last week. There 
was nothing of special interest to be seen except Alount 
Vernon. This every patriot should go and look upon once 
in his life, even if he has to cross the continent to do it. We 
all remember also how Fort Washington appeared then, and 
how we watched for Acquia Creek Landing, only to have an 
indistinct vision of its charred ruins, as we steamed by, almost 
at the opposite side of the river. 

The glare of the sun that day was relieved by a slight 
haze, and the air was deliciously cool, without being chilly. 
We could lounge on deck, climb into the rigging, go below, 
play games, cultivate the accjuaintance of men of other regi- 
ments, — or just sit still by ourselves and enjoy the ride. As 
we seemed to glide along, the river became wider and 
■wider, the ever-changing kaleidoscope on the shores receded 



420 HISTORY OF THE 

farther and farther away, and the great ship became smaller 
and smaller relatively. Before we entered Chesapeake Bay, 
the Potomac was so wide that it seemed itself a bay. It was 
hard to tell, indeed, where the river ended and the bay began. 
It was hard, too, with the eye, to keep directions. In the 
morning we had started almost due south. Now, the land 
was so distant and dim, and the sun, having changed his posi- 
tion, hung so low in the horizon, in such a golden, mellow 
light, that, before we were aware of it, we seemed to be 
turned around, and going due north. 

We had crossed well over the Chesapeake bay before 
night. About sunset, off to our right, could be seen indistinctly, 
a dark ridge, resembling a low-lying cloud bank. That, they 
said, was Old Point Comfort. Near its lower extremity was 
a spot, a little more distinct, not unlike the roof of a great 
barn or shed, or the shadowy outlines of an immense weather- 
beaten straw stack. That, we were told, was Fortress Mon- 
roe. These riveted our attention, because their names were 
in the papers every day during the years of the war. 

It required but a short time for the soldiers to be on the 
best of terms with the sailors. The jovial, easy-going old cap- 
tain came about as near resigning in our favor as he well could. 
The boys took hold freely and assisted in all the work of sail- 
ing the ship, from heaving coal to going aloft. For twenty 
or thirty of them to seize the spikes and turn the capstan, in 
weighing anchor, was great fun. 

No better example could be found, showing how widely 
people may differ in many respects, yet speak the same lan- 
guage, be of the same blood and live under the same flag, than 
to take a representative number of these boys from Indiana, 
never before out of the State, and compare them with these 
men, who all their lives, had followed the sea. The peculiar lan- 
guage of the sailors, their modes of expression, the names by 
which they designated the things connected with their daily 
life, their pronunciation of names, with the spelling of which 
we were more or less familiar, etc., etc., almost dumbfounded 
us. For them to lift or move anything, or pull on a rope, 
never failed to attract our attention, and often drew a fair- 
sized audience of Western men. In raising heavy wooden 
buildings in Indiana, we had sometimes seen one man stand 
out in front and give the he-ohe, so that all might lift together. 
But these sailors did not pretend to exert themselves in any 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 421 

way without a similar performance. It may be that they saw 
it amused us and carried it to extremes, but one of them alone, 
pullini^ on a rope not hirger than a clothes line, put the he o- 
he's in for himself. 

But with the close of the first day all the pleasure and 
most of the interest of the writer, in the journey to New York, 
had a sudden and dismal ending. He would not mention the 
fact only that his experience was that of a large majority of 
the Twenty-Seventh. He remembers the balance of the voy- 
age all too well, though not by any means on account of the 
enjoyment of it. He has laughed about it many, many times, 
too, but he was far from laughing at that time. 

We had not been out on the ocean long until most of the 
Twenty-seventh became violently seasick, and a large propor- 
tion of them remained so as long as we were on the vessel. 
During the first night we could hear the muffled roar of the 
Avind and the lash of the waves against the ship, indicating 
that we were getting well out to sea, and that it was not very 
smooth. Before morning the writer was very sick. He tried 
the theory of perfect quiet until nearly noon the following 
day. Then, getting no better, but rather worse, he decided to 
try the air upon the open deck. 

The ship was out on the great ocean. No land was in 
sight in any direction. There was nothing in sight beyond the 
confines of the ship, except a shoreless expanse of rolling, 
plunging and dashing water. The ship itself, which had 
seemed so large, now seemed a mere speck in such a bound- 
less space, and a mere toy in the power of the waves. Expe- 
rienced ones said this was nothing, it was no storm ; the wind 
was only a little " fresh," but some of us wondered how it 
would be if there was a storm. 

A large per cent, of the men on deck were arranged along 
the ship's rail. There was scarcely room there for another 
person. And those who occupied that position were not there 
because it afforded a better opportunity for observation. They 
were not looking at anything in particular. In fact, they were 
not interested in anything in particular. As far as they were 
able to comprehend anything at all, they supposed that they 
were about to die ; and as far as they were able to care for 
anything at all, they devoutly wished they might die speedily. 
Most of their time was diligently occupied in paying tribute 
to Neptune. In other words, they had to vomit until it was 



422 HISTORY OF THE 

a miracle that their stomachs should contain anything more 
to throw up. In more recent years the writer invariably gets 
sick if he crosses a mill pond, but no subsequent experience has 
quite equaled that. 

We saw no land all day. Several ships were sighted, going 
in various directions. The only one we came very near tq 
was a large side- wheeler, which we overtook and passed. It 
was laden with a part of our expedition, and had started ahead 
of us. 

The second morning found us running along the New 
Jersey coast, approaching the New York harbor. To those 
who felt well, this approach to and sail up the hnrbor must 
have been a rare treat. Most will at least recall how we 
watched the schools of fish, changing the color of the water 
here and there, the rolling of the porpoises, the droves of gulls 
following the ship, lighting on the water to pick up the 
crackers we threw them, sometimes flying so close to us that 
we could almost touch them, the taking on of a pilot, passing 
through the Narrows, with the forts so close on either side, — 
their great, black guns pointing toward us, and their flags 
dipping in salute. Then, as we made our way up towards the 
city, we took in what we could of that gigantic panorama of 
water and land ; the ships of all nations, and boats and crafts 
of all descriptions, moving and at rest; the various islands, and 
miles and miles of wharves and docks, and the numberless 
points of interest in the cities beyond. 

Near Governors Island, the Merrimac dropped her anchor, 
temporarily, and General Ruger went ashore to report and 
to ask for orders. During this delay the Russian fleet, which 
visited our country in war time, was anchored not far away. 
Much importance had been attached to its arrival, and we 
strained our eyes to see all we could of it. It was understood 
even then that, curious as it might seem, the fierce, autocratic 
Russian Bear had plainly intimated to all concerned, that he 
had a friendly interest in Columbia, even if she did stand for 
the absolute equality and freedom of all men, and that all who 
had any designs against her had better look a little out. 

The delay was not tedious, but it must have been an hour 
or more before the Merrimac resumed her course and landed 
us at the foot of Canal street, North River. When we had 
debarked, the Twenty-seventh parted company from the other 



TWEXTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 



423 



regiments and marched down the second or third street back 
from the river, directly to Battery Paik. 

While landing and on the march through New York, we 
were the objects of more jeers and insults, and were oblic-ed 




to listen to more expressions of hatred and disloyalty towards 
the Government, and more open avowals of sympatiiy for the 
rebels in the South, than we ever met with in all the other 
cities we visited, North or South. Part of it came from wo- 



424 HISTORY OF THE 

men and children, but much of it came from men. Nearly 
every word of it had the accent of some foreign tongue. 

Battery Park was to be our camp ground during our stay 
in the city. At first we pitched our tents more towards the 
western end, in the vicinity of old Castle Garden. Within a 
day or two we moved almost to its eastern extremity, opposite 
South Ferry. We put up our shelter tents there in regular 
order, and lived as usual, except that we were served with 
meals ready cooked, by parties not connected with the regi- 
ment. The food was abundant and was eaten with relish, 
though there were often visible evidences that the kitchen was 
not kept as scrupulously clean as some other kitchens are. 

While it is not down in the books, the boys still remember 
the " Battle of Battery Park," as we called it. The evening 
we arrived there the Colonel found it necessary to use his 
sword, in connection with an instance of insubordination. 
Two or three men defied, first their company officers and then 
the Colonel, and there was some vigorous sword exercise for 
a while, slapping, hacking and prodding, indiscriminately. 
The Colonel chanced to have at the time only a light, dress 
sword belonging to the quartermaster, his own heavy sabre 
being back on the ship, (Otherwise the ending might have 
been tragical. 

Possibly the whole matter should be omitted from these 
pages. It never again had its counterpart in the Twenty- 
seventh and was caused now by whiskey. The men most 
concerned were, ordinarily, the best of soldiers. The inci- 
dent we always considered in the light of a joke. 

The drinking places were as open to soldiers in New 
Vork as to others. No discrimination could be arranged for. 
The Colonel himself had this set before him in a vigorous 
fashion. After the trouble with the men, just mentioned, he 
went into a saloon, opposite the camp, and, in some formal 
manner, forbade the proprietor selling his soldiers liquor. 
He was asked who in blank he was, any how, and, with 
sundry adjectives and expletives, such as saloon men (if not 
army officers) are commonly well supplied with, he was 
given to understand that his authority was not recognized at 
all in that establishment. His soldiers, if they had the money, 
could have anything in the place, did he mind that? So it 
continued to be. 

But here may be a hint for temperance legislation. From 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA, 425 

this on, the restraint was placed wlioUy upon the consumer. 
It was enacted that the niinimum of excess should henceforth 
meet with the maximum of punishment. And there never 
was a time in the history of the regiment, when intoxicants 
■were obtainable at all, that there was less disorder, or other 
visible effects of their use. 

Every day but one, and every evening but two, during 
our stay in New York the men not on duty went out into the 
city, almost at will. The evening before and the whole of the 
day and evening upon which the draft was made, we stood by 
our guns. That is, we remained in camp, with everything in 
readiness for instant action. 

Unhappily, many of us were too young, or inexperienced, 
to reap the best advantages from a visit to a great city. There 
was also a lack of pocket money with some. That may have 
been a blessing in disguise, though it seemed a grievous depri- 
vation at the time. Without tlie faintest dream of having any 
such a call for money, most of our allowances had been 
promptly sent home after the previous pay day, and the 
modest sums retained had about gone for other uses. The 
writer sent home urgently for money and received it — at Tul- 
lahoma, Tennessee. 

New York itself was far from being then what it is now. 
Any one of a dozen cities of our reunited and regenerated 
Republic of the present day have far more in them to interest 
and instruct a visitor than the metropolis then afforded. The 
greatest wonder to most of us was doubtless the city itself — its 
location, size and greatness, its stately buildings, its throng- 
ing, busy streets and the ceaseless dim and hub-bub of its vast, 
uncounted industries. 

Our W^estern merchants usually visited New York at least 
twice a year, before the war. From them, and others, we had 
heard of some of its noteworthy places. These, as far as we 
could recall them, we tried to hunt up and visit. Barnum's 
museum headed the list, as a rule. A. T. Stewart's great 
store, Washington Market, Central Park, Trinity Church and 
•church-yard, etc., etc., had a place on most lists. 

It was very common for Western people visiting New 
York at this period, to go over to Brooklyn and hear Henry 
Ward Beecher, at least once. His fame as a great preacher 
had reached everywhere. Bat he was absent during our visit. 
The leading theatres were also closed for the hot weather, 



426 HISTORY OF THE 

though some of none too high a grade were open, and received 
patronage from some of us that we do not now recall with 
pride, as did also other species of amusement and indulgences 
that every true man can only regret, later in life. 

Every day we came to be on better terms with the citi- 
zens of the vicinity. At first many of them had not only 
resented our presence in the city, but they had been mortally 
offended at our occupancy of the park, and the refusal of our 
guards, under their instructions, to allow them to pass through. 
The day after our arrival, being Sunday, hundreds of 
them came and, when they found their privileges in the 
park restricted, they became very indignant. Even the city 
police undertook at first to force our guards, in the interest of 
these citizens. Martial law had not been declared in New 
York, and there was some question as to the rights of the 
military. Tliis, we understood at the time, was why the park 
fence soon ceased to be our guard line, and no attempt was 
made after that to close any gate to the citizens. But the 
space occupied by our camp we held inviolate, and no citizen 
was allowed to invade it without permission. 

All of this friction soon vanished. Witiiin a day or two 
after our arrival, it came to be an assured fact that any soldier 
from the Army of the Potomac had a sure and abiding friend 
in any city policeman, wherever he might meet him. A 
marked change was early apparent also with the people. 
They became greatly interested in our militarv exercises. 
Our guard mounts and drills were always witnessed by large 
numbers of them and, if the weather was pleasant, an immens^ 
multitude was invariably on hand to admire and applaud our 
dress parades. The fact that we had seen service at the front, 
and especially that we had actually been in so many bloody 
battles, gave us an evident prestige with them. All positions, 
all virtues and all graces pay ready homage to valor. 

The citizens were warming to us personally, too, as we 
were warming to them. Some of us were forming personal 
acquaintances and receiving numerous little favors. Some 
had relatives come on from home to visit them, and a still 
larger number had relatives and friends residing East, who 
called upon them. The situation was delightful, with a pros- 
pect of its getting better and better. A rumor was current 
that we were to remain in New York for at least another 
week. It was a lovely Sunday morning, and we were very 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA, 427 

happy. But, as a peal of thunder out of a clear sky, we 
received orders before noon of that day (September 5), to 
march, and before dark were aboard ship for the return 
passage. 

This time we were taken directly from Battery Park by 
a smaller boat out to ihe Mississippi, the exact mate of the 
ISIerrimac. Only the three regiments of our brigade were 
embarked on this ship, though all our baggage and effects, 
including officers' horses and those in charge, were loaded with 
us this time; while on the trip coming these were on a sepa- 
rate vessel. The Third Wisconsin and Second Massachusetts 
marched to Battery Park and were transferred to the Missis- 
sippi in the same manner as ourselves, as were also the 
baggage and animals. Both of the latter were raised up from 
the small boat to the deck of the ship by means of a derrick, 
with ropes and windlass. The loading consumed almost the 
whole night. One of the horses struggled out of his support, 
while being hoisted up, and fell back, twelve or fifteen feet, 
to the deck of the small boat, but it did not injure him per- 
manently. 

During our whole time in New Vork our camp swarmed 
with little street gamins, selling papers, peddling various 
articles, singing simple songs, playing on instruments of music, 
performing some little trick or acrobatic feat, doing any and 
everything to turn a penny. Bright and quick, in their way, 
as chipmunks, some of them were attractive and their accom- 
plishments were surprising. All of them seemed to be entirely 
homeless, either from choice or necessity. They were more 
than willing, not only to share our meals, but also to sleep 
with us, or to sleep anywhere about the camp. Now that we 
were leaving the city, scores, if not hundreds of them, begged 
to accompany us. We already knew too much of the vicis- 
situdes ahead to indulge many of them in their ambition. 
Still, a few of them were, in one way or another, taken along. 
They were with us until we reached the Rappahannock and 
afterwards, but just when they left us. or what became of 
them, the writer is not advised. Some middle-aged man, not 
unlikely leading an honorable, useful life, may read these 
pages and recall that he was one of those diminutive waifs 
that drifted away from the great city witii the Indiana 
soldiers. 

Early the next morning, before some of us were awake, 



428 IIISTORY OF THE 

the Mississippi pulled up her anchor and moved down the bay, 
headed for the Potomac direct. 

The return passage resembled the one going, except that 
the sea was more quiet, and not so many were sea-sick. Some, 
however, who were well throughout the former passage were 
now desperately afflicted. This evened up matters in dif- 
ferent ways. Where they had made light of those sick before, 
they now received similar treatment ; and where they had 
been considerate and helpful, they found it agreeable to get 
their pay in kind. It is often thus. 

If possible, this captain was more jovial, and had a warmer 
heart for soldiers, than the other. Both of them were stout, 
heavy men, with an endless flow of good feeling for all the 
world, and they both humored and indulged the men with 
muskets, as if determined to give them as much of a holiday 
as possible, while riding with them. This one could spin 
sailor yarns like oil running out of a bung hole. There was 
little time, when he was in sight at all, that he did not have 
all the boys around him, listening to his Munchausen-like 
tales, that could find standing room within hearing. Our 
former experiences with the sailors were simply duplicated 
also. Most of us could not be certain that these were not the 
same men, transferred to another ship. 

By 2 :00 P. M., of the third day we were again at Alex- 
andria, and that night we occupied the same open square 
where we had waited previously. 

At this point we received a very hurried visit from 
Governor Morton. There was some disappointment, in that 
he did not arrive until it was almost too dark to see him 
well, and his time was so limited that he could only say a few 
words to the regiment. Still, it cheered and encouraged us 
greatly. The prestige of Indiana as a state, and our own 
state pride, were greatly enhanced by the exceedingly favor- 
able impression he made upon the troops from other states, 
which had flocked around to see and hear him. His stalwart 
form, and the few words he spoke, which were even more 
stalwart than his form, set the men from other states on fire. 
They never ceased talking about it. The good people of 
Indiana will never know the full measure of the debt they 
owe Oliver P. Morton, for the unstinted loyalty, the colossal 
ability and the tireless energy, with which he rallied her citi- 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 429 

zens to tlie support of the Union, and stimulated and strength- 
ened her soldiers in the field. 

The balance of the trip back to the army was too well 
written up by Chaplain Qiiint of the Second Massachusetts 
to admit of being rewritten. lie says : 

" We left Alexandria (our three regiments) about two A. M. on 
Thursday, September 10th. Our expectations that transportation by 
rail would be furnished to us as it had been to other troops of our expedi- 
tion were frustrated and we started over a road familiar to the army of 
Virginia, and in parts to us, as our native state. The present march was 
the first direct and entire one over the straight road, though we had before 
been over roads parallel for the same distance. 

" We made eight miles that day. What a waste that country is! 
About seven miles from Alexandria is Annandale — called a 'dale' doubt- 
less from its being situated on an elevated plain, just as the South calls 
itself 'chivalric' because it whips women and sells babies. Annandale 
was made up of half a dozen houses; now it comprises one or two houses, 
and the balance in chimneys. There was also one fence, a weak attempt 
— a kind of ' poor but loyal * fence, probably. There is a small stream 
just south of this, on the south bank of which we camped. 

" At four A. M. reveille. At six A. m. we were on the road. And so 
was a long train of fresh horses, gojng to the army under cavalry escort. 
The method of security was by attaching — say fifty — horses on each side 
of a long rope extending from a wagon m front to a wagon in rear. It 
was amusing to see the starting after any halt; the horses' legs being on 
all sides of every rope at once. 

" But it was not amusing to have the affair on the road. Despite 
all efforts at peace, the cavalry managers tried to interfere with us con- 
tinually. If we halted, they halted. When westarted, they would make 
an effort to break our line. At one place they succeeded in driving a 
wagon of our detachment into a ditch, and breaking some part. As more 
trouble was likely to ensue, our commander wheeled a guard across the 
road. Thereupon a young lieutenant drew his pistol on the guard; but a 
dozen Indiana bayonets pointing instantly at his breast, he quickly con- 
cluded to postpone his funeral, which would certainly have been provided 
for the moment he had fired a shot. 

" At a subseciuent attempt of that train to make trouble, the butts 
of muskets were used with great success, the only mistake being in not 
using the steel, for we were clearly in the right. The dust, too, was a 
nuisance. Imagine a road covered with the dryest and finest powder — 
cavalry starting it up — and you can conceive of a road in which a decent 
breath was next to impossible. Add the want of water, and pity the 
troops. And then we met an immense train of empty wagons of sutlers, 
coming on under escort — it seemed unendurable. How many a soldier will 
recognize such a description! 

" But we had some relief; having passed through desolate Fairfax, 
we arrived within half a mile of Centerville, and halted. * * * Here 
the men had their dinner, such as it was. And then passing between the 
old breastworks, we went to Bull Run. 



430 HISTORY OF THE 

" Having had a march of seventeen miles already, there being nn 
need of haste, the men being footsore and tired, there being plenty of 
water there, and none of any consequence for miles onward, after a rest 
the order came, of course, to ' fall in.' We did so, ajid went on three 
miles to Manassas Junction, and got m cainj) after dark, and obtained a 
little dirty water; to be roused up at four a. m. again. 

"Then to start and to see no signs f)f life for miles, except as the 
army gave them. Chimneys were plenty. Indeed, if any enterprising 
man wants ready made chinmeys, as being handy in case of building, he 
conld doubtless drive a good trade, and lay in a large stock on this road. 
Four miles brought us to Bristow Station — to accomplish which reversely 
last year cost us twenty miles of detour. At Bristow we found friends, 
the Thirty-third Massachusetts, whose splendid band played for us as we 
moved on. There was the spot where, last year, we witnessed the burn- 
ing of half a mile of cars; the one building then standing being now gone. 

" A few miles farther, on the edge of Kettle Run, was the spot 
where we lay all day idle, in sound of the battle of Manassas — with as 
many troops, I think, as Fitz John Porter was cashiered for the alleged rea- 
son of not bringing in; the number which, it was stated, would have secured 
victory. From that point the heat was intense. There was literallv no 
water. The men suffered accordingly. But after occasional rests, we 
halted at Catlett's, where a little moist dirt was tried to quench thirst; 
halted for two hours within a mile of our destined camp, and so got wet, 
but relieved, by a thunder shower. 

" The next morning we marched to Bealton, every inch of the road 
historical and familiar. The march was pleasanter for the rain of the 
day before, and another that morning had laid the dust. The evil of 
occasional muddy spots was more than balanced by the absence of 
clouds of dust. All day the sunshine and clouds strove for mastery. 
Sometimes it was intensely hot, but then a friendly cloud would inter- 
pose its sun-shade, and relieve us. Miles more brought us to camp. How 
pleasant it seemed to get back. The Thirteenth New Jersey were drawn 
in line and welcomed, with cheers, each of our regiments back to the 
stout old Third Brigade; and so we settled down. 

" We have moved since. We heard that day the noise of artillery 
as we were gettmg home again." 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



TO THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND. 

The move mentioned by Chaplain Qiiint in the previous 
chapter was a short one only, made the second day after our 
return from New York. The regiments of the brigade left 
behind then had been scourged with sickness in our absence, 
and it was thought best to change the camp. It aroused our 
suspicions, however, when we were ordered to elevate our 
bunks. There are few recorded instances when we received 
such orders that it did not presage a move. In this instance 
we moved the next day. 

Early on the morning of September 16, with our division 
the Twenty-seventh crossed the Rajopahannock, near where 
our camp had been, and marched southward to Stevensburg. 
We could see that a large part of the army was involved in 
the advance. Troops not closely related to us were ahead the 
first day. The next day the march southward was continued, 
but no other troops were ahead of the Third Brigade except 
cavalry. As we neared the Rapidan river we did considerable 
extra marching, in order to keep behind timber or hills, so 
the enemy could not see nor molest us. We at length halted 
in the vicinity of Raccoon Ford. 

The river at this point is not over seventy-five yards 
wide. Immediately on the opposite bank were the outposts 
of the enemy, and slightly farther back we could see the fresh 
dirt of his entrenchments among the bushes. When we 
arrived our cavalrymen were making lots of noise with their 
carbines and the men on the other side were returning the fire 
with equal energy. For a time after the cavalry was relieved 
by the infantry the relations between the two sides were 
extremely hostile. The least exposure on the part of either 
drew the fire of the other instantly. For this reason picket 
de-tails had to be changed entirely at night. In some instances 
individual pickets could not be relieved at all through the day. 
A detail from the Twenty-seventh was required to maintain 
one post at a point where the hazard was exceptional and 



4fS2 HISTORY OF THE 

must have been unadvisable. The hir^er part of a company 
was stationed in an ordinary frame house, in point blank 
range of the enemy's works. I'he men were phiced there 
after dark one evening and required to remain until after 
dark the following evening. Their position was onlv tenable 
by their lying low and keeping the enemy in ignorance of 
their presence. A musket ball would cut through the walls 
of the house at any point as easy as through a paper box, 
unless it happened to hit a studding. One day in particular, 
that the writer happens to know about, the rebels seemed to 
have a suspicion that all was not right in this house. At 
intervals all day they sent balls whizzing through it. They 
had men, too, who could hit a mark. The night previous an 
officer had unintentionally left his little, double-pocket haver- 
sack hanging m an exposed place. When light dawned in 
the morning, zip, zip, two balls pierced the haversack in 
quick succession. 

That same day two colonels from the Third Brigade took 
it into their heads to venture out and take observations along 
the picket line. It was reported among the rabble with 
muskets that the visit was the result of a convivial time the 
two had been having together in one of their tents. Those 
who know something of colonels, these two in particular, will 
have their own opinion about that. Anyway, when they 
came back to camp, they had very bland, child-like expres- 
sions on their faces, and stole furtive glances at each other, 
out of the corners of their eyes, in a way that gave a hint of 
something. Considerable nimble running and very lively 
dodging, which some of our pickets saw, as well as sundry 
bullet holes through a blouse or two that had eagles on their 
shoulders, furnished a fuller explanation. 

But infantry never relished this species of warfare, and 
within forty-eight hours an amicable truce was arranged 
between the men of the two sides, whereby such individual 
carnage came to an end. There was also the usual exchange 
of newspapers, bartering of cofl'ee for tobacco, inquiries after 
the fate of relatives and friends inside of the respective 
lines, etc. 

On the 20th, our division moved back from the river, 
perhaps a mile, and went into camp, in a more regular way. 
Before that we had been very much restricted about hrcs, 
noises and everything likely to draw the shot of the rebels. 



TWENTV-SEVKNTH INDIANA. 483 

It was while in that cramped situation that the military 
execution took place, heretofore mentioned. The man's name, 
or boy's — he was only twenty — was Albert Jones. It w^as 
said that he w^as really from Indiana, though he had belonged 
to a Maryland regiment, and that his real name w^as not 
Jones. His otYense was desertion and was aggravated, having 
been repeated under circumstances that added to its enormity. 

The troops had been previously advised in orders of the 
work in hand. A detail of enlisted men from each regiment 
had been made to serve in the firing squad. The guns of the 
detail were loaded by others, not connected with it. Half of 
them were loaded with b;Jls and half without, so that no one 
would need know^ that he had fired the fatal shot. 

At the hour appointed all of the division, not on other 
duty, marched, under arms, to the field designated, and 
formed on three sides of a square. There were probably 5 000 
soldiers present, of all ranks. The position assigned to the 
Twenty-seventh was directly opposite the open side of the 
square, and at that open side a freshly dug grave was plainly 
visible. Very soon, the provost guard and the firing squad 
arrived, conducting the prisoner. The latter was seated in 
an open ambulance, with a chaplain beside him. Behind these 
followed another open ambulance hauling a coffin. This 
gruesome procession moved slowly up and formed about the 
grave, the provost guard being alligned on either side of it. 
The coffin was taken out of the ambulance and placed on the 
ground in front of the grave, and the prisoner was seated upon 
it, facing the square of troops. The firing squad, divided 
into two platoons, was formed in front of the prisoner, fac- 
ing towards him. 

Then there was an interval during which, at our distance, 
we could hear nothing. We were informed afterwards that 
at this time the finding and sentence of the court-martial and 
the order for the execution were read, prayer was offered by 
the chaplain, and the prisoner shook hands with the chaplain, 
the captain of the provost guard, and others who he felt had 
befriended him, bidding them good bye, etc., etc., after w^hich 
he was blindfolded. 

These preliminaries over, there was a withdrawal of all 
parties to a safe distance, except the firing squad and the pris- 
oner. The latter sat upon his coflin alone. For a very solemn 

moment all was silent. Then the commander of the firing 
28 



434 1IIST015V OF THE 

squad called the first platoon to attention and, in slow, meas- 
ured tones, gave the command, Ready — Aim — Fire! A sharp 
volley rang out, almost as the report of a single musket. As 
we strained our eyes, we saw the body of the wretched 
deserter fall slowly forward a short distance, then lurch more 
heavily side ways, and roll off upon tne ground. The second 
platoon of the firing squad was not needed. 

Two or three surgeons gathered about the prostrate form, 
and gravely stooping down and making the necessary exami- 
nations, pronounced the man dead. So it w-as recorded. 

The body was then placed in the coffin, the fatal wounds 
were laid bare and the troops were marched by in two ranks, 
that they might have a nearer view of what had been done. 
Approaching the coffin, the ranks were separated, one passing 
on either side. There were five bullet holes, all in the breast, 
one for each loaded musket. The open palm of a man's hand 
would easily have covered them all. 

The face of the dead man had a youthful appearance, and 
was not coarse, brutal and debased as the faces of the reckless and 
criminal so commonly are. On the contrary it was rather intel- 
lectual and refined. The execution evidently made a deep 
impression upon all, though not a word w-as uttered in con- 
demnation of it. More than this, it was hearti'y approved by 
every one. The only regret that found expression in the 
Twenty-seventh was that we could not have some of our own 
deserters there, to serve them in a like manner. 

But the Twenty-seventh, and a large number of the troops 
Avith which we were associated, were upon the eve of start- 
ling developments affecting them personally. General ]Meade 
liad made this move from the Rappahannock to the Rapidan 
upon his own motion. His reason was that, some days before, 
he had learned of Longstreet being detached from Lee's army, 
w'ith his command, to reinforce the rebel army in Georgia. On 
the 19th and :20th of September, while we were lying so close 
to the Rapidan, and to the position of our adversaries, the 
battle of Chickamauga was being fought. Even before it be- 
gan, Meade had received orders from Washington not to bring 
on a battle here. The authorities there hesitated at that period 
about fighting two great battles at one time. Just as though 
that was not the only way to prevent the enemy, with his 
shorter and more direct lines of communication, from concen- 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 435 

tratiiifij first against one of our armies, and then against an- 
other. 

We heard of the battle of Chickamauga on the 22d, Be- 
fore that it had been decided that we sliould go to that far-away 
section of country, involving a journey of about 1,200 miles. 
During a conference at Washington, when the question of 
how to reinforce the Army of the Cumberland was under dis- 
cussion, the superintendent of military railroads was sent for 
and was asked, " How long will it require, with the facili- 
ties available, to transport 20,000 soldiers from the Rappahan- 
nock, in Virginia, to Bridgeport, Alabama?" After stipulat- 
ing a very few conditions, he replied promptly, " Six days." 
To the question, " When can you begin?" he replied unhesi- 
tatingly, "To-night." That settled it. 

just how it was determined as to what troops should go 
to the Western army, the writer has met with no authoritative 
statement. There was a report that General Meade protested 
against the sending of the Twelfth Corps, preferring to part 
with other troops, though, as far as the writer's researches 
have extended, no positive confirmation of this report has 
turned up. The natural inference seems to be, that the 
Eleventh and Twelfth, being the two highest numbers con- 
nected with the Army of the Potomac, if any corps were to 
be detached entire, the lot would fall to them. Besides, as a 
whole, the troops composing these two corps had been con- 
nected with that army a shorter time than others. At all 
events, the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps were to go. General 
Hooker was to have command of the two, in some sense as a 
separate army. 

The first intimation of a move reached us on the 23d. A 
few of the higher officers doubtless knew earlier of our desti- 
nation, but definite information came to the most of us only by 
degrees. That which first foreshadowed something unusual 
was an order to draw eight days' rations. That of itself was 
not unusual, but the men of another corps near us did not 
receive the same orders. 

When we moved, on the 24th, we moved to the rear, back 
through Stevensburg and thence to Brandy Station, on the 
railroad. Here orders came to turn in at once our mules, wagons, 
etc. This was more than we had done a few weeks before, 
when starting to New York. So we concluded it meant some- 
thing more than a temporary absence. Of course the air was 



486 HISTORY OF THE 

full of rumors. That we were going west was one. That 
we were going to the seacoast was again rumored. Perhaps 
other points were mentioned. Those who were out, spying 
around, saw some of the troops embark on cars and start 
northward. 

All day, on the 25th, we lay in suspense at Brandy. In 
the forenoon another deserter was shot, belonging to the One 
Hundred and Forty-fifth New York. The regulations for the 
execution were the same as a few days previous, except that 
not so many troops were taken out to witness it. 

On the 2Gth, our brigade marched to Bealton Station, as 
did also most, if not all, of our division. This march was a 
tantalizing mystery. It imposed a hardship, to all appear- 
ances, wholly unnecessary. If the cars could carry us 1,186 
miles, why not the other ten? After trudging the ten miles, 
in sight of the railroad all the way, and crossing the Rappa- 
hannock on the railroad bridge, which was apparently in per- 
fect repair, we found cars waiting at Bealton. As soon as 
our turn came, the Twenty-seventh got aboard, and this 
proved to be the place where we took final leave of Old Vir- 
ginia. It was almost dark when we arrived at Bealton and 
w^e left there in the night. 

Early next morning found us in Washington, at the foot 
of Capitol Hill, on the west. There was then a track con- 
necting the railroads from across the Potomac directly with 
the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. 

Though the rumors of our going west had been asserted 
with more and more plausibility, there was still some doubt 
about it until now. When we reached Washington and did 
not receive orders to vacate the cars, we considered the point 
as finally settled. 

The engine which had pulled us in had been detached and 
taken away. Two other trains, besides ours, stood on the 
track, in the same way. Shortly, a monster camel-back engine 
backed around the curve. It was coupled on to the first train, 
backed it up and coupled it to the second, backed both up and 
coupled them to the third. Then, after some shrill whew! 
whews ! it moved sturdily forward with all three — around 
past the Baltimore & Ohio depot, and out on the straight 
track towards Relay Junction. 

All the troops cheered lustily and long, especially the 
men of the Twenty-seventh. Still, with us there was some 



TWENTV-SEVENTII INDIANA. 



437 



sudden revulsion of sentiment. We had never felt quite 
satisfied Avith our position in the Eastern army. W'e 
seemed so far away from home there and so much isolated 
from the soldiers with whom it was natural that we siiould 
affliliate. And, because of these things, as we believed, we 
had been the victims of some unjust aspersions and our days 
had been made more burdensome and galling than necessary, 
with few to sympathize or encourage. As will appear in 
these pages, our minds have never been entirely disabused as 




Ass't.-Surg. G. V. Woollen. 

(Recent portrait.) 



Ass't.-Surg. G. V. Woollen. 

(In war time.) 



to the facts, whatever new developments have come about to 
explain the facts. 

But, now that a change was coming, we could see that 
the question had two sides. The Twenty-seventh had, at this 
time, its full share of the pride, which all who were ever con- 
nected with it will always cherish, for the Army of the Poto- 
inac. We all believed in it, heart and soul, and we all gloried 
in being identified with its history. All of us insisted that its 
failures and defeats were the result of incompetency and mis- 
management on our side, as opposed to the best troops a.nd 
the best directed efforts of the enemy. Over and over we had 
asserted that, as a rule, no soldiers could be braver or more 



438 HISTORY OF THE 

heroic in battle. We had had occasion to do this because of 
the belief so widely prevalent in the West, and nowhere more 
so than among our friends and relatives in the Western armies, 
that the Army of the Potomac was a "paper-collar," ■■ soft- 
bread," "feather-bed," "review and dress-parade" army, and 
that it would not fight. These thing were constantly being 
said to us in the letters we received, or whenever any of us met 
Western people or Western soldiers. The disagreeable nature 
of our situation was that we were thus between two fires. 
Because we were from the " wild and woolly West," pro- 
nounced Indiana " Ean-dy-an-ny," spoke of being " raised," 
made a liberal use of the word " heap," as an adjective of 
quantity and, in general, sharpened our as and slurred our 
'ings, while we were not any too particular about blacking 
our shoes and dusting our clothes — because of these things and 
other similar ones — many of the people whom we were every 
day defending in our letters to our friends and to the Western 
newspapers, were every day bandying and ridiculing us to our 
faces, and some of them were lying about us shamelessly in 
their letters to friends and to Eastern newspapers. Of course, 
mere personal jibes and twittings counted for little, but insinu- 
ations and assertions affecting our manhood and soldierly 
qualities — the very points upon which we were standing up 
for them — were different. 

In addition to these things, we were convinced then of the 
rigorous character, relatively, of service in the Army of the 
Potomac, aside from its bloody battles and their issues. On 
top of the crucial test of all patriotic devotion and all soldierly 
virtues, put upon the men of the Eastern armies, by their num- 
erous uncalled-for defeats, and their repeated buffetings and 
disappointments, which were in such striking disproportion 
to what they had a right to expect ; the long-sustained physi- 
cal efforts they were required to make, the exposures they en- 
dured and the deprivations they suffered, as compared with 
other armies, are not well understood in some quarters, even 
to the present day. We had had the oppcrtunity to learn 
something of them before this. 

Nevertheless, if the question had been left to a vote of 
the Twenty-seventh that morning whether or not we should 
now leave the Army of the Potomac, the negative would 
probably have won. Anyway, we were going with many 
sincere regrets. It goes without saying that no vote was 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 489 

asked for or t;iken. We were ordered to go, and that was the 
end of it with us, res^ardless of wliat our preferences might be. 
Seven days hence we would be in Ahibaina. A few incidents 
of the journey doubtless demand a place in this volume. 

Men in other regiments seem to have found the trip a dis- 
agreeable one. The Twenty-seventh did not find it so. True, 
we rode the entire distance in freight cars, and were some- 
what crowded, the floor space of the cars alone considered. 
But we were permitted, at will, to ride on top or inside of the 
cars, and, in that way, had plenty of room. At night, some 
using the benches and others the lloor, there was room for 
all to lie down, and suflicient sleep and rest were thus ob- 
tained every night. In addition to what was given us along 
the way by the loyal people, and tlie rations we had with us, 
the Government had piovided supplies of hot coffee and some 
cooked food at all of the points where the trains were to stop. 
It was easy to do this, as other soldiers were stationed at tliose 
points, and they attended to it. The weather was most de- 
lightful, being the Indian Summer of the various sections 
passed through. 

The route taken on this transfer was, first by the Balti- 
more and Ohio Railroad via Relay Junction. Harpers Ferry, 
Cumberland and Romney, to Bentwood, on the Ohio river. 
There we left the cars, boarded at Bealton, and marchid a ross 
the river on a bridge, formed of freight barges, into Bellaire, 
Ohio. Thence we passed through Zanesville, Columbus and 
Dayton, Ohio ; Richmond, Indianapolis and Jeflersonville, 
Indiana ; Louisville, Kentucky, and Nashville and Murfrees- 
boro, Tennessee, to Stevenson, ^Vhibama. Adjutant Brvant 
gives the exact distance as 1,196 miles. It would be a long, 
interesting journey at any time, affording a look at far-famed 
scenery, rich agricultural districts and populous cities. 

The energy, foresight and attention to minor details, par- 
ticularly the anticipation of and provision for the wants of the 
soldiers, evident all along the way, had a good eft'ect. We 
were impressed every hour that back somewhere there was a 
head and a heart to plan right things for us, and a will to exe- 
cute. A traveler making a journey across the continent now, 
on a first-class ticket, would not find his connections better 
arranged for, and his comforts, if more expensive and luxuri- 
ous, would not be more carefully looked after. It was also a 
joy and an inspiration, which will linger with us to the end 



440 HISTORY OF THE 

of life, to receive, not only the food and delicacies, but the 
warm-hearted expressions of sympathy and encouragement, 
which came to us at every stopping place in Ohio and In- 
diana. The beaming eyes, winsome smiles and brave cheering 
words, no less than the kindly deeds, of the loyal women and 
girls, not only rewarded us for what we had done, but made 
better soldiers of us in the time to come. 

The celebrated Brough and Vallandingham campaign was 
then in progress in Ohio. It lacked but a few days of the 
election when we passed through. Many of the Twenty- 
seventh, possibly a majority of them, had, previous to the 
war, been members of the same party as Vallandingham. But 
we were all on the other side now. None of us could brook 
the idea of a man who had been convicted of being in secret 
alliance with armed rebellicn, being voted for governor of the 
great, loyal state of of Ohio, much less elected to that office. 

The first run that the train made, after starting across the 
state, the boys found themselves at a disadvantage. At times 
when the train was moving too fast too alight from it, yet not 
fast enough to prevent our hearing them, men would tantalize 
us by shouting for Vallandingham, and frequently for JefT 
Davis. We had our guns, of course, but shooting under the 
circumstances was a more radical measure than seemed advis- 
able. At the first stop, however, the boys prepared them- 
selves. They filled their haversacks with a plentiful supply 
of David's favorite weapons, namely, " Smoothe stones from 
the brook." It was most amusing to witness the result when 
the next group of men, thinking to take advantage of the fact 
that we were on a moving train, began to shout their taunting 
hurrah's. How they did dodge and scamper, when it began 
to rain good-sized stones in their midst ! The same method 
was pursued, with the same laughable and gratifving results, 
until we finally passed out of Ohio. 

The Twentv-seventh was shown some special consideration 
on the journey by General vSlocuin,and perhaps others. ^Vhen 
the move was inaugurated the paymaster was making on ■ of his 
periodical visits to the corps, but had not yet reached the Twen- 
ty-seventh. About the time we first crossed the Ohio, General 
Slocum chanced to come around where the Twenty-seventh 
was. In response to our cheers he complimented the regi- 
ment on its orderlv behavior and enciuired " How are the 
Twenty-seventh boys standing the trip.''" Among the 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 441 

many replies he received, some one, not backward about 
expressing his sentiments, shouted, " We would feel better 
about passing through Indiana, if we had some monev." 
" Haven't you been paid off?" the General enquired, with 
evident surprise and interest. " No, No!" the men replied. 
" Well now," he continued, " I will see to that." And he did- 
That evening beyond Zanesville, our train ran in on a country 
siding, while an express train dashed by. A note was dropped 
from the express, for our colonel, informing him that the pay- 
master was aboard and would begin paying us at Zanesville. 
When we arrived there, we found him waiting for us, and all 
through the night, by the dim light of our candies, he went from 
car to car, until he had given the last man two months' pay. 

We also gave General Slocum credit for arranging it that 
the Twenty-seventh should remain at Indianapolis all of one 
day. The troops changed cars at Indianapolis, but most of them 
only remained there a short time. We arrived in the early 
morning and were told then that we would not likely go out 
before night. Inasmuch as many of the parents, wives, 
children and other relatives and close fiiends of the members 
of the regiment had been notified by personal telegrams of 
our coming, and had purposely met us there, this arrangement 
was a great kindness. 

The General's hint to one of our Twenty-seventh boys, 
at Indianapolis, was also characteristic of the man. Tliis 
Twenty-seventh soldier chanced to see the General at a time 
when he seemed to be at leisure, so he made bold to speak 
to him of what was uppermost in his mind. He told him that 
we were to pass through his own, home towMi, that he had 
not been at home, nor absent from the regiment a single day, 
since enlistin-j;^, now more than two years, and asked the 
General if he might not stop and see his people for one day. 
General Slocum could command 50,000 soldiers like a skilled 
chess player can manage his pieces upon the board. Here we 
see one of the secrets of it. With much sympathy he replied, 
in substance, " Soldier, I am very sorry, but I cannot give 
you a furlough; no one except the secretary' of war, or some 
one acting by his authority, can do that. .Still, if I had 
served in the regiment that you have, for over two years, 
without being at home once, or absent from duty a single day, 
and was passing directly through my own home town, I 
would most certainly stop for just a little while, on my own 



442 HISTORY OF THE 

responsibility. And I will say this much : If you conclude 
to do the same, and should get into trouble over it, I will do 
all I can to iielp you out." 

Though anticipating somewhat, it may be stated in this 
connection that officers were detailed by the General's orders 
and left at Louisville, w'here stragglers would first encounter 
military rule and where those without passes or furloughs 
would be taken into custody. These officers were armed with 
full power to take charge of all late comers of the Twelfth 
Corps and bring them on to the front. This made it easy for 
those who stopped off at home to overtake us without serious 
detention. It is scarcely necessary to say also that all such were 
sent to the regiment at once, when they reached the corps, 
and nothing farther was said about it. 

But only a limited number could stop off, even for a short 
time. The regimental organization, and that of each company, 
had to be maintained, and the property and equipments which 
we had with us had to be cared for. It called, therefore, for 
heroic self-denial on the part of some. Most of the Twenty- 
seventh passed within an hour's ride of their homes, and many 
of them within actual sight. The writer sat in the open door 
of the freight car, by the side of a comrade when the train 
passed his father's house, which stood within a stone's throw 
of the track. With all that we had been called upon to do 
and to witness, and with what, in all probability was yet to 
come, the impulse to stop was very strong, if only for the 
next train. 

In this the unseltishness and true comradeship of the boys 
were again exemplitied. Men of families, or whose parents 
were known to be quite old, or in feeble health, and those 
who, for any reason, had special occasion to go home, were 
urged to do so. While the unmarried, and those not having 
any special call to stop off, generously offered to remain and 
do double duty. The recollection comes up unbidden that 
much of this had a sequel. Several of those who then saw 
home and friends, parti}' through the kindness and encourage- 
ment of officers and comrades, never saw them again ; while 
some who then voluntarily denied themselves the opportunity, 
for the sake of others, never had the opportunity recur. 
When these crossed the Ohio river they were never to recross 
it in the body. 

The train conveying the Twenty-seventh left Indianap- 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 443 

olis early in the evening and arrived at JeiTcrsonville in tlie 
forenoon of the next day. There we left the cars again and 
were taken over the river on a ferry boat. 

In Kentucky things began to have a familiar look. War 
in one locality is much the same as in another. There were 
more houses and less naked chimneys, more fences and grow- 
ing crops, and not so many open spaces and barren fields, 
through Kentucky and Tennessee, than through Virginia. 
But the same ubiquitous blue uniforms, the same mystical 
and potent "U. S.," painted or stenciled upon almost every- 
thing movable, and some things that were not, the same 
eartli works and blockhouses at the bridges and culverts, etc., 
etc., were in evidence. 

When we first began to come in contact with the soldiers 
of the \Vestern armies our faith was shaken still more as to 
the desirability of the change we were making. In the cities 
in rear of those armies w^e w^ould naturally see many of their 
sick and convalescents. The blackened, fleshless victims of 
malarial fevers and camp diarrhcoa constituted a class of suf- 
ferers that we had seen nothing of before this. The sight of 
them almost appalled us. We learned later that these cases 
had come mostly from the armies serving along the Mississippi 
and other Western rivers. Those scourges had not prevailed 
extensively in the Army of the Cumberland, and were almost 
unknown in it after it reached the mountain districts of Ten- 
nessee and Georgia. 

The ride from Louisville to Nashville was the roughest 
and most disagreeable of any part of our long journey. This 
seemed to be caused largely by the reckless manner in which 
the trains were run. It was impossible, a good part of the 
time that the train was in motion, to sit or lie still, much less 
to sleep. 

We passed through Nashville without leaving the cars, 
though it required the best part of a day to switch the trains 
around and get them started south again. The speed from 
Nashville on was as slow in proportion as it had been fast 
this side of that point. Almost every little station south of 
Nashville had been named over and over again in the dis- 
patches relating to the progress of the war. On Sunday 
morning, about daylight, October 4, 1863, we leaped out of 
the cars into a fog so thick that it could almost be cut into 
chunks. The train had come to a standstill, and there seemed 



4i4 insTOKY or the 

to be a number of switches, or sidings, extending along the 
base of a mountain that was higher than we could see in the 
fog. Where they had not been freshly tramped down, rank 
weeds, higher than our heads, were to be seen everywhere, 
growing out of a rich alluvial soil. A few cheap, wooden 
houses, now much the worse for neglect and abuse, stood 
back from the sidings. Nearer were immense piles of boxes 
and barrels, all marked " U. S." When enough of us had 
gotten oflF to begin to raise some commotion, a man poked 
his bare head out of a tent near by, to see what was the 
matter, " Where are we?" someone of us inquired. " Ste- 
venson. Alabama," he said, gruffly, and drew his head in 
again. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



TULLAIIOMA. 

The evidence was not long in developing that the troops 
had been brought West for something niore than ornament. 
Less than two hours after getting off the cars at Stevenson 
we were getting back onto others — open Hat cars this time — 
and were destined shortly to be racing hither and yon, at our 
old calling of trying to head oft' rebel cavalry. In the West 
it was Wheeler and Forrest who occupied the position filled 
by Stewart and others in the East, and who attended indus- 
triously to the matter of riding around our army, burning 
railroad bridges and destroying other property. In this in- 
stance it was Wheeler.* 

The utter folly and uselessness of employing infantry 
against Cavalry when making such a raid, further than to re- 
inforce certain weak points, or to guard important isolated 
crossings, has been mentioned heretofore. The belated pas- 
senger who, arriving after the train has gone, starts on foot 
to overtake it, is only jeered at by onlookers. Not a whit 
more rational is a commander, who sends a few thousand 
infantry to prevent a body of mounted men from crossing a 
railroad a hundred miles long, or with the expectation of 
striking them while crossing, when they can go over it equally 
as well at one point as another. Whether we had brought 
this species of lunacy with us, or whether it was indigenous 
in the West, as well as East, " deponent answereth not." 

The cars carried us back over the same route we had 
come, first, to Dechard, and then — it is impossible at this 
date to determine where. The different regiments of the 
brigade manifestly did not remain together, though this the 
writer has found nowhere expressly stated. The Twenty- 
seventh had a large detachment on '"French leave," back in 
Indiana or on the way somewhere. It had another consider- 
able detachment with the regimental baggage and stores, 



*The same " Fighting Joe" of recent history. 



446 HISTORY OF THE 

which were also behind. AViiat remained of the regiment 
may have been further subdivided and sent to different points. 
Anyway, diaries tell different stories with reference to this 
period, hard to reconcile. The writer is confident that he came 
on the cars, after various detentions, as far north as a burned 
bridge, not far below Murfreesboro. He is equally confident 
that Colonel Colgrove was in command of this part of the 
Twenty-seventh, large or small. 

The brigade, or most of it, must have pulled itself 
together again a day or two after this at Christiana, a little 
further south. The writer can not be mistaken about having 
had charge of a picket reserve there much larger than was 
common for persons of his rank, and in it were details from 
most, if not all, of the regiments. There was much blood- 
shed. A drove of hogs in the vicinity suffered terribly. The 
impression seemed widely, and perhaps violently, prevalent 
that regulations with respect to foraging were different in 
Tennessee from what they had been in Virginia. The only 
regulation that was rigidly enforced by the one in command 
that day was, " Don't let me sec you kill any hogs, or sec any 
confiscated property." 

After a short stay about Christiana, the line of march was 
gradually southward. With various halts and possibly some 
counter-marches we arrived at Tullahoina on the 11th. Most 
of the time on these marches we had been in a good country, 
naturally. Our bivouacks and periods of rest had often been 
in fine beech, poplar and walnut groves. Near the village of 
Bellbuckle we camped for a time among some of the largest, 
finest yellow poplars that the writer has ever seen outside of 
Indiana, The ground in many places was also thickly strewn 
with beech and hickory nuts. 

Since arriving from the East we had for the first time 
come into contact with colored troops. There had been much 
heated discussion over the matter of arming the late slaves. 
Direful things were threatened by the Southern authorities if 
it was done, some of which were carried into effect later. 
At the North few opposed it, or questioned its propriety, 
except those whose loyalty was not above suspicion. An 
admirable expression of the sentiment of the army upon the 
subject was made by a soldier of the writer's acquaintance, 
belonging to another regiment. He was asked in a scornful 
tone, when at home wounded, whether he wanted " a nigger 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 447 

to stand aside of him in battle/' He promptly replied, "No! 
I want the nigger to stand in front of me." So it was often 
said by the soldiers in the field, if a negro could stop a rebel 
bullet, or, better still, if he could stop the rebel from shooting 
the bullet, let him come on. It was a little hard on those 
white regiments that had been guarding bridges, and doing 
other duty in the rear, to be relieved by colored soldiers and 
sent to the front, but the members of the Twenty-seventh had 
no occasion to find fault with that. 

The colored troops which we saw at this time impressed 
us with the exactness with which they executed their orders. 
A colored soldier on guard controlled all the country in sight 
of him, and he knew no such thing as rank. That some of 
our officers were called to a halt and marched off" to the officer of 
the day because they inadvertently strayed too near the colored 
guard line, aff'orded us more than one good laugh at their 
expense. 

During the last day before reaching Tullahoma we crossed 
another creek " endways." The number of times we waded 
the one creek, or as Chaplain Qjiiint says, " walked through 
it," would probably seem incredible if stated in these piping 
times of peace. 

Chaplain Qiiint also makes some witty observations in 
this connection about the leader of a column of marching men 
being required to walk and carry a load. The horses for our 
mounted officers had not yet overtaken us and some of them 
could make no other terms with fate on this march than to 
"foot it," like the balance of us. The Chaplain was among 
this number and, in his meditations while trudging along, he 
came first, to the conclusion that the one who has charge of 
men marching on foot ought always to be required himself to 
go in the same way. Later, he decided that he not only ought 
to be required to walk, but also to carry a load, and the further 
the Chaplain went the heavier the load he was disposed to lay 
on the leader. Others had worked out the same conclusions, 
earlier in the war, though perhaps not able to state. them in 
quite such attractive English. 

While at Tullahoma this time we camped upon the bluff 
at the northwestern corner of the town, really in the town. 
The first days after our arrrival there were devoted to a very 
wet rain. When the rain finally ceased we ventured out of 
our tents, stretched our limbs, and began to take our bearings. 



448 IIISTOHV OF THE 

Matters in Tennessee were quite dift'erent from what they 
had been in Virginia, in many respects. The general aspect 
of things was not so different from Indiana. Neither were 
the people all disloyal, and there was not such an evident 
tone of hostility everywhere. A Union soldier could feel 
somewhat at home. C^uite a proportion of the citizens he 
met were in full sympathy with him. And, while the signs 
of war were evident on every hand, the country had not 
been laid waste as it had been where we had mostly served. 
Fresh meat and vegetables were as cheap in Tullahoma as 
they have been in the average Northern town since the war. 
No soldier with any money at all would forage sweet pota- 
toes ; he could buy them for less than he considered it worth 
to dig them. On the whole we rather like J the prospect. 

Just at this time an army incident transpired that carried 
us all entirely away. A number of officers and soldiers 
assembled at the station one day with the band, to see and 
greet one w^hom they had learned incidentally was to pass 
through on the cars. We had all known of him, but no one 
of us had ever seen him. When the train arrived he stepped 
out on the rear platform. He was then a major-general and 
held the highest command of any one in the United States 
army — the rew'ard of his previous successes. Yet he wore a 
faded coat, the buttons of which indicated the rank of briga- 
dier-general, and in his demeanor he was as bashful and 
modest as a school boy. What he said could not be heard a rod 
away. No need to say that this was General Grant. 

The sight of this plain, unassuming ^\''estern man, with 
his Western ways, brought our hearts right up into our throats. 
We cheered with a wild abandon, Bless God! the days of our 
serfdom were over. At last we were under men who could 
think of something besides brass buttons, tinsel and gilt lace. 
There were to be other standards of excellence than parades 
and reviews. 

A little later the following entries were made in the diary 
of a Twenty-seventh soldier : October 23, to Dechard ; Octo- 
ber 24, to Anderson ; October 25, to Dechard ; October 20, to 
Tullahoma. Brief, but true. With more detail, these entries 
mean that, under orders, which had every appearance of being 
serious, we started to the front. We carried ten days' rations 
of bread, five of meat and an extra supply of ammunition. 
The first day w^e marched to Dechard, over a good road and 



twp:ntv-sr\'kntii indi a n a. 



4U) 



through a level country — an easy march of llfteeii miles. The 
next day we toiled up tiie rocky side of the main chain of the 
Cumberland Mountains and descended again on tiie opposite 
side. We went over the mountain exactly where the rail- 
road goes partly under it. There had been little or no road 
there before. The only time it had ever been used, we were 
told, was while the railroad was being built. With infinite 
labor we pulled the artillery and baggage wagons up by hand 
on one side and eased them down a<rain on tlie other. In 




Gen. U. S. Grant. 

(From war time photograph.) 



places ledges of rock rose from one to three feet, almost per- 
pendicular, and in others the wiieels cut down in the soft, 
black soil squarelv to the hubs. That night we camped at 
Anderson's depot 

After crossing the mountain the road follows down the 
Crow Creek Valh^y, a very wild and picturesque locality, 
hemmed in b\ high mountains. Near where we camped was 
a spring large t tiough to run a mill. It issued from a cavern 
in the sid^^ of th • mountain into whicli a man could walk 

almost uprit;ht. l>eech nuts were again plentiful. 
29 



450 HISTORY OF THE 

Next morning there was a delay in starting. When the 
start was made we took the back track ; and the march that 
day and the following one were the exact counterparts of the 
two previous days, except that the direction was reversed. 
The fourth night found us back at Tullahoma, upon the pre- 
cise spot from which we had started. Several thousand men 
had just had a nice promenade, of some seventy miles, for 
their health. 

The explanation of this transaction, current at the time, 
was to the eflect that an order was issued for our division to 
go to the front and the Second Division to remain in the 
rear. But General Geary, the commander of the vSecond 
Division, objected. He was a large man, with a rugged, if 
not violent, disposition. When he learned of the arrange- 
ment he went to the higlier authorities and made a disturb- 
ance. He complained that the First Division had too often 
been preferred over his. It had been given all chances to dis- 
tinguish itself, while his division had been kept in the back- 
ground. Whether this report was true or not. our division 
was ordered back and the other division went forward. 
Williams' division guarded the railroad and Geary's division 
participated in '^ the Battle Above the Clouds.'' In the absence 
of any other, this explanation is given for what it is worth. 

It proved that the Twenty-se\enth was now to settle 
down to a life of garrison and guard duty, lasting over five 
months. The experience was new and opened to us another 
phase of army life. The other regiments of the brigade and 
division were sent to other points, where we saw little or 
nothing of them. One company of the Twenty-seventh was 
sent to Poor Man's Run. two miles below Tullahoma, to 
guard the bridge at that point. 

The seniority of Colonel Colgrove was probably why the 
Twenty-seventh was retained at Tullahoma. It was undoubt- 
edly the post of honor, being the headquarters of the corps, 
divisions and brigade, and on other accounts, the center of 
interest for that district of country. We had with us one live 
major-general and two live brigadiers. Tullahoma was also a 
military ,' post," with a post commander, post provost-mar- 
shall, post quartermaster, etc. In a large hotel building near 
the depot was a regularly equipped general hospital and near 
the town, on the northeast, was a regularly constructed fort, 
mounting some heavy guns, and garrisoned by a Kentucky 



T\\ KN IN -SEVKXTU INDIANA. 451 

artillery company. Colonel Colgrove was Post Commander 
and Captain Williams was Post Provost-marshal. 

Before the war, Tullahoma had been a prosperous town 
of a thousand inhabitants. It has an unusually higli altitude, 
making it a cool, healthful place, and it was, and is still, a 
summer resort of considerable note. It had been greatly dis- 
tressed by the war. The rebel army had been there the pre- 
vious winter and it was now a stopping place for many of our 
troops. The best that could be done, one building after another 
was burned or torn down. Not over three hundred people 
were in the town at this time. 

The second day after our return to Tullahoma our camp 
was moved to a point between the railroad and the fort. There 
we at once prepared such quarters as would enable us to pass 
the winter with some comfort, though the materials were not 
available to do as well as we had formerly done. These quar- 
ters we occupied until Spring. 

The following headlines from a diary, kept by a member 
of the Twenty-seventh, will recall to any survivor of the regi- 
ment some of the most prominent features of that winter's 
experience. On picket and patrolling the railroad. Out with 
forage train. Parties and dances in town, ditto, ditto in the 
country. A'eteranizing. (Guerrillas capture foragers. Cold 
New Years. Guerrillas wreck railroad trains. General Slo- 
cum going away. Veterans start home at midnight. Hunt- 
ing rabbits and turkeys. Veterans arrive from Nashville. 
Many other veterans march through. Hovey's babies to the 
front. 

The exactions of picket duty at Tullahoma were verv 
severe. To maintain an unbroken line of pickets around the 
place was impracticable ; but several posts, with good reserves, 
w^ere established out on all the roads and other probable en- 
trances. There was considerable fine weather, of course, but 
some of it was as venomous as anybody ever saw. That 
winter averaged colder than either of the others we spent in 
the army. No record of the temperature at Tullahoma has 
turned up, but a statement that the thermometer stood at four 
degrees below zero, on the morning of January 2d, 1864, at 
Bridgeport, Alabama, seems authentic. To go on picket 
€very other night, out under the open sky, through an entire 
winter, is an irksome, slavish, health-destroying life. That 



452 HISTORY OF THE 

was what most of the TwentN-seventh did there, regardless of 
rank. 

Yet clouds had silver lining then, as they are believed to 
have always. Wherever a survivor of the Twenty-seventh 
can be found, at the present time, the chances are that he will 
recall the winter at Tullahoma with a smile. The matter of 
parties in town and country, hinted at in the above quotation, 
will likely have something to do with the smile. In and 
around the village there seemed to be even more than the 
usual number of young ladies. Many of them belonged to 
Union families, some having brothers or fathers in the Union 
army. Only a short time sufficed for most members of the 
regiment to be on at least calling terms with some of these. 
Few indeed were the men who did not spend more or less 
time in their society. No one was the worse for it either, 
unless it was through some fault of his own. The writer can 
testify, being in a position later on, where he had the oppor- 
tunity to learn more of the facts, that the untraveled, unpre- 
tentious people of Tullahoma, young and old, were worthy of 
more sincere consideration and esteem than they received in 
all cases. Their motive largely was to lessen the hardships and 
deprivations of soldiers for the flag. At least two of our 
Twenty-seventh boys were married at Tullahoma, and 
brought their wives with them to Indiana, when on veteran 
furlough. 

That the usual amount of rough-and-tumble sport, pranks, 
games and various pastimes, were kept up this winter, 
doubtless might be taken for granted. The trick of throwing 
men up in a blanket had a greater run here than ever before. 
Whenever several persons wanted to show some one a little 
special attention, particularly if they wanted to visit upon him 
a mild punishment for real or fancied misdoing. the\- invari- 
al)ly seized him and tossed him up in a blanket a few times. 
In many messes this was the standing penalty for the vio- 
lation of a mess rule, or any little transgression or failure. If 
one did not see to getting water or wood, when it was his 
turn, was not prompt in coming to his meals, permitted his 
traps to lay around in the way, above all, if he was grumpy 
and cross, he was sure to find himself sailing in the air, under 
the uplifting force of a strong blanket or tarpaulin, in the 
kindly but determined hands of his messmates. Even com- 
missioned officers were not all exempt. No one would have 



rWHNTV-SHVKNTir INDIANA. 



453 



thought of subjecting some of them to such an ordeal ; but in 
some instances oflicers stepped so far aside themselves, that 
thcv were almost obliged to take tlieir turn at this exercise, 
like little men, or do worse. 

The Twenty-seventh had more enjoyment of the brigade 
band this winter, and saw more of its members, than had 
been the case previously. This band had formerly belonged 
to the Second Massachusetts and for that reason, likely, it 
commonly remained close to the Second. What music the 
Twenty-seventh received was at second hand. This winter 
the band was at Tullahonia most of the time. 




" Blanket Exercise." 
(Plate kindly loaned by Chaplain Biederwolf, 161st Ind.) 

It must have been a very superior one, really an aggrega- 
tion of artists. General Sherman and General Howard, as 
well as thousands of other soldiers, have testified to the 
peculiar impressions made upon them by the music of this band. 

Almost every evening during the winter at Tullahoma, 
when the weather would at all do, the band gave concerts, 
frequently until late at night. The writer recalls very dis- 
tinctly the delightful impressions that these serenades made, 
upon him. Many times he was awakened out of his sleep by 



454 HISTORY OF THE 

the inspiring strains of " Rally Round the Flag, Boys," and 
otiier patriotic pieces. One of the favorites of this band, of 
a different character, was " Old Gray Horse, Get Out of the 
Wilderness." 

This was the winter, of course, when the cjuestion of 
re-enlistment for another three years, or during the war, had 
to be acted upon. Desirous of securing the further services 
of those trained, disciplined soldiers whose terms of enlistment 
would expire during the f(jl lowing Summer, Congress passed 
a law offering an installment bountv of .1^400. a furlough 
of thirty days, and what has proved to be the empty honor 
of being called a veteran, to all soldiers who had already 
served two years or more, and would now re-enlist for another 
three years. The matter was not pushed with much energy 
in the Twenty-seventh. The officers seemed to be rather con- 
servative about it themselves. There was no enthusiasm over 
it in any quarter. What might have been the result if fuller 
explanations had been made, or additional eft'ort put forth, 
can not now be told. As it was, less than half of the regiment 
re-enlisted, not enough to entitle it to be called a veteran 
regiment. Those who thoughtfully decided to re-enlist un- 
questionably acted a prudent part. It seemed to some that 
there were substantial reasons why they ought not to do 
so. Of those who did not re-enlist, the writer does not know 
of a single one who did not show by his conduct after coming 
home, that he had some plan of life previously studied out. 
and something that was creditable to him. 

The veterans seem to have had a glorious visit to Indiana. 
They were permitted to come as an organized regiment, 
bringing the colors, musicians and a full complement of offi- 
cers with them. They were formally welcomed back to the 
State by Governor IVIorton, in a highly eulogistic speech. 
Everywhere they went they were met with wilil ilemonstra- 
tions of honor and cordiality, by all tiie people. The entire 
thirty days was one continuous round ot" gaiety, of dinners, 
receptions and parties, given in their behalf. The blessed 
Hoosier women and girls, in particular, left no room for doubt 
that Virtue honors Courage. With glowing eyes and sweetest 
smiles, they gave their heartiest approval and encouragement. 
A number of the boys closed the bargain with the girls they 
had left behind at hrst, and had corresponded with for over 
two years, and were happily married. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 4^35 

At the expiration of the thirty days the men reassembled 
at Indianapolis and returned to the field in the best of spirits. 
They shared the fate of almost all returning veterans at this 
period and had to march from Nashville to TuUahoma. The 
trains from Nashville south were so heavily taxed in accumu- 
lating stores at the front that transportation could be furnished 
to very few soldiers, going in that direction. 

The only hostilities from the enemy at Tullahoma were 
from guerrillas. These at times were bold, as well as treacher- 
ous, and were considerable of an annoyance. 

As previously noted, the people in the town and im- 
mediately around it, particularly to the east and north, were 
quite generally loyal. At least, there were enough in those 
sections who were loyal to make it too hazardous for bush- 
whackers. But not far south, and southwest, w^as a section 
of country where the rebel sentiment was rampant. Lincoln 
and Franklin counties, situated in that direction, had early 
been hot beds of secession. When the majority of the people 
of Tennessee voted to remain in the Union, as they did at 
the only election ever held over the question having any pre- 
tense of fairness about it, these two counties called conven- 
tions and passed ordinances of secession, withdrawing from 
Tennessee and asking admission to the state of Alabama. 

That fact, by the way, has helped the writer to under- 
stand the doctrine, and practical operations, of secession. It 
stands to him as a demonstration of what would have been 
the rule, if the rebellious states had succeeded. Any state, 
county, township or school district, dissatisfied, from any 
cause, with its relations, could then have dissolved them at 
will. Ambitious politicians, and unscrupulous schemers of 
every kind , could have resorted to these measures at any time 
to further their ends. That meant anarchy. The shooting 
to death in the Civil war of the hot-headed, unreasonable and 
unreasoning monster — vSecession — was a long step in the 
direction of stable, law-abiding government. 

The people in the above direction from Tullahoma encour- 
aged guerrilla warfare and bushwhacking, harboring and assist- 
ing in hiding those engaged in it. It was surprising, as well as 
shocking, that people of the highest standing, both morally 
and religiously, or who had been such, did this. The writer 
personally knew of instances of white-haired, tottering men 
and women, who for forty years had maintained active rela- 



456 



HISTORY OF THE 



tions with Christian churches, yet who when asked if they 
Iiad seen certain persons lately would sav No, and call upon 
God to strike them dead if they were not telling the truth. 
Yet the one asking the question had seen the persons inquired 
after go out of their presence barely a moment before. In- 
stances of this kind were repeated over and over. That was 
the spirit of the rebellion. Some phases of the war to which 
this narrative relates do not really belong to the sphere of 
political or governmental science, but fall properlv under the 
head of demonology. 




LiETT. J. M. Jamisox. 

(Regimental Quartermaster.) 



First Lieut. S. D. Porter. 
Co. A. 



Below TuUahoma some distance the ra'lroad passed 
through a thinly settled, wooded country. Not far from 
that point, on the west side of the track, was a region of deep 
ravines, and steep, rocky hills, all thickly covered with trees 
and bushes. This region furnished the marauders a vantage 
ground, from which to sally out and to which to retreat. 
Their attacks upon the railroad were always late in the after- 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 457 

noon, and before they could be pursued far, darkness would 
'^ome to their aid. By morning they would be dispersed, and, 
in appearance and by profession, they would be the most 
harmless and inoffensive of citizens. 

Twice during the winter, trains were thrown from the 
portion of the railroad track that was under the supervision 
of tlie Twenty-seventh. No lives were lost either time, and 
the destruction of property was not large. Before the villains 
could kill, burn or plunder to any great extent, our men were 
upon them. 

Tlie most serious affair in which any of the Twenty- 
seventh had a part, while the regiment was at Tullahoma. 
is described very clearly, and in detail, in an order which 
General Thomas issued in relation to it. That order in full is 
as follows : 

Headquarters Department of the Cl aiberland, 

Chattanooga, Tenn., Jan. 1, 18(;4. 
General Order No. 6. 
It ha\ing been reported to these headquarters that between seven 
and eight o'clock on the evening of the 28d ult., within one and a half 
miles of the village of Mulberry, Lincoln county, Tenn., a wagon, which 
had become detached from a foraging train belonging to the Unitetl 
States, w-as attacked by guerrillas, and the officer in command of the 
foragers, First Lieutenant Porter, Company A, Twenty-seventh Indiana 
Volunteers, the teamster,and two other soldiers who had been sent to load 
the train (the latter four unarmed) captured. They were immediately 
mounted and hurried off, the guerrillas avoiding the road, until the party 
was halted about one o'clock in the morning, on the bank of Elk river_ 
where the rebels stated they were going into camp for the night. The 
hands of the prisoners were then tied behind them, and they were then 
robbed of everything of value upon their persons. They were next drawn 
up in line about five paces in front of their captors, and one of the latter, 
who acted as leader, commanded " ready," and the whole party immedi- 
ately fired upon them. One of the prisoners was shot through the head 
and killed instantly, and three were wounded. Lieutenant Porter was 
not hit. He immediately ran, was followed and fired upon three times 
by one of the j^arty, and finding that he was about to be overtaken, threw 
himself over a precipice into the river, and succeeding in getting his 
hands loose, swam to the opposite side and, although pursued to that side 
and several times fired upon, he, after twenty-four hours of extraordinary 
exertion and great exposure, reached a house, wlience he was taken to 
Tullahoma, where lie now lies in a critical situation. The others after 
l)eing shot, were immediately thrown into the river. Thus the murder of 
three men, Newall E. Orcutt, Ninth Independent Battery, Ohio \'olunteer 
Artillery; John W. Drought, Company H, Twenty-second Wisconsin \'ol- 
unteers, and George \V. Jacobs, Company D, Twenty-seconti Wisconsin 



458 IIIS'IOKY OF THE 

\'i)lunteers, was acconiplisht-d by shooting and drowning. The fourth, 
James W. Foley, Ninth Independent Battery, Ohio Volunteer Artdlery, is 
now lying in hospital, having escaped by getting his hands free while in 
the water. 

For these atrocious and cold-blooded murders, equalling in savage 
ferocity any ever committed by the most barbarous tribes on this conti- 
nent, committed by rebel citizens of Tennessee, it is ordered that the 
property of all other rebel citizens living within a circuit of ten miles of 
the place where these men were captured be assessed, each in his due 
proportion, according to his wealth, to make up the sum of S80,000, to be 
divided among the families who were dependent on the murdered men 
for support as follows: Ten thousand dollars to be paid to the widow of 
George \V. Jacobs, of Delavan, Walworth county, Wisconsin, for the sup- 
port of herself and one child. Ten thousand dollars to be paid to the 
widow of John W. Drought, of North Cape, Racine county, Wisconsin, 
for the support of herself and two children. Ten thousand dollars to be 
divided between the aged mother and sister of Newell E. Orcutt, of Bur- 
ton, Geauga county, Ohio. Should the persons assessed fail within one 
week after notice shall have been served on them, to pay the amount of 
the tax in money, sufficient of their personal property shall be seized and 
sold at public auction to make up the amount. Major-General H. W. 
Slocum, commanding Twelfth Army Corps, is charged with the execu- 
tion of this order. 

The men who committed the murder, if caught, will be summarily 
executed, and any person executing them will be held guiltless, and will 
receive the protection of this army; and all persons who are suspected of 
having aided or harbored these guerrillas will be immediately arrested 
and tried by a military commission. 

By Conunand of 

Major-General Thomas. 
Wm. D. Whipple, A. A. G. 

The foregoing aflair. in all of its details, was shocking, 
but it revealed the characters we were dealing with and put 
us on our guard. Our forage trains continued to go into that 
same region all Winter, and no more of our men were 
molested. Lieutenant Porter, " Sam,'' as he was called by 
his intimate friends, had the hearty sympathy of all of us. 
He has never fally recovered from the barbarous ordeal to 
which he was then subjected. 

An eflfort was made immediately to apprehend and punish 
the perpetrators of this crime. A large number of persons 
were arrested, both as principals and accessories, and brought 
to Tullahoma. Later a military commission was convened, 
and was in session many days, trying them. The imderstand- 
ing was that several of them were found guilty and sentenced 
to death ; and there was a report afterwards that thev had 
been executed in the penitentiarv at Nashville, where they 



TWKNTY-SEVEN'lir INDIANA. 451,> 

were sent after being convicted. We of the Twenty-seventli 
always had our fears, not to say doubts, about the latter report 
being true. 

The money mentioned in General Thomas" order was 
promptly collected and paid to those to whom, by the terms 
of the order, it was due. For this purpose a regiment, the 
One Hundred and Fiftieth New York, recently attached to 
our brigade, was sent into the neighborhood where the crime 
was committed. A surprising fact in this connection, that 
the writer happens to know of, was that most of the money 
was paid promptly, and much of it was paid in gold. The 
people were thus vastly more able to pav their assessments 
than anybody had supposed them to be. 

Under the provision that property should be taken and 
sold, in cases where the money was not forthcoming, several 
bales of cotton were levied upon and brought to Tullahoma 
to be exposed for sale. As Post Provost marshal Captain 
Williams had charge of this latter transaction. To facilitate 
it a live or six-line notice was inserted in a Nashville paper. 
The first to see this, apparently, were the treasury agents, 
whose business it was to prevent the army from dabbling in 
cotton. They made their appearance in Tullahoma w'ithout 
delay, but the sale was not interfered with. At the present 
writing cotton is quoted at four cents per pound. This cotton 
brought six /]'-/// rcr and oiic-Jialf rents, cash, at public auction. 
These were war prices! 

The organization of the Twentieth Cor[:s, which occurred 
at this time, by the consolidation of the Eleventh and Twelfth 
Corps, and the addition of other troops, making three strong 
divisions, had some features about it tiiat were agreeable to 
us, and others that were quite the reverse. We were pleased 
to have a larger corps; the Twelfth Corps, as it was, with all 
our pride in its record, was too small. It never iiad regularlv 
but two divisions, and those w^ere hardly up to the standard 
for size. In consequence, the corps had been overshadowed 
by larger corps and deprived of proper credit. Tiiis was true 
both at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. It was next to 
impossible, in the nature of things, for a small corps to attain 
to the prestige of a large one. To give us a larger corps, 
therefore, was in the line of our ambitions. 

But to lose General Slocum and to ha\e tlie number of 
our brigade changed (from Third to Second) were both highly 



460 



niSTOltY OF THE 



unsatisfactory. Neither of these things should have been 
done. General Slocum was given command of the Twentieth 
Corps later, and developments, both before and afterward, 
proved that this should have been done at the start. It was 
said at the time that the Eleventli Corps men were responsible 
for the fact that the Twentieth Corps used the badge of the 
Twelfth Corps. When it was proposed to make the badge of 
the new corps a combination of the two former ones — a star 
and crescent — they said, " No, let it be the star alone." So 
it was, and we were thus permitted to wear our red stars on 
to the end. For this we owe them a great debt. It may be 




Maj.-Gex. Geo. H. Thomas. 

(Commander Army of tlic Cumberland.) 

a little late to suggest it now, but if thev had only thought 
to go a little further and suggest that the name of the Twelfth 
Corps and its commander also be retained, our obligations to 
them would have been vastly increased. 

Our brigade should also have been allowed to retain its 
old number. Some may ask, with a sneer, " what's in a 
name.^" But thoughtful people know that there is something 
nevertheless. When it carries with it thoughts and associa- 
tions that incite and inspire to high endeavors, there is much 
in a name. Throughout almost the entire period of tlieir active 



T\VENTV-SK\KN'ni INDIANA. 4G1 

service, the several regiments, now under (General Ruger, had 
been known as the Third Brigade. Without really intending 
it, they had come to call themselves, and others had come to 
call them, by that name, in almost the same sense that certain 
brigades were known as '• The Iron Brigade," " The Excelsior 
Brigade," The Irish Brigade," etc., etc. To change the num- 
ber, therefore, amounted to a legal (or illegal) prohibition of 
something that was not only convenient from long usage, 
but was a matter of pride ami ambition as well. There was 
not a little lost to the army, through frequent changes. New- 
commanders, strangers to antecedent facts, often turned every- 
thing topsy turvy. Men with axes to grind also secured 
transfers and interchanges in their own intere>ts. What were 
the \vishes, or what the reputation, or even the lives, of a 
thousand or so men, if they stood in the way of their ambi- 
tion? But the history of this subject unquestionably show's 
that, other things being equal, those regiments that remained 
in the same relations, and larger commands that preserved 
the same organizations, for the longest periods, not only made 
for themselves the best names, but actually rendered the best 
service. 

In this same connection the troops lately from the xVrmy 
of the Potomac were regularly incorporated into the Army of 
the Cumberland. This we have always rejoiced over. We 
wanted to remain in the Wes*", now that we were here; and, 
remaining in the West, we wanted to be fully identified with 
the Western army. The Army of the Cumberland already 
had an enviable record, and Gen. George H. Thomas, its 
commander, had already established himself as one of the few 
really great generals of history. The survivors of the Twenty- 
seventh have always cherished the fact with especial pride 
that their regiment sustained actual, vital relations with those 
two illustrious armies — the Army of the Potomac and the 
Army of the Cumberland. It was the onlv regiment from 
Indiana that was favored with that distinction. 

All of the foregoing reorganizations and changes grew 
out of another transaction of gieat import. That was the pro- 
motion of General Grant to the command of all of the armies 
of the United States, and of General Sherman to succeed him 
as commander of the Military Division of the Mihsissippi. 
The latter embraced all of the Western armies. Nothing ever 
occurred in the career of the Twenty seventh that had. in all 



462 



HISTORY OF THE 



respects, as satisfactory an outcome, and that through all the 
years, has so comforted and rewarded the survivors of the regi- 
ment for their toils and sacrifices, as the fact that they served 
with, and became thus historically related to, this rare military 
genius and incomparable army comrade. To have blacked 
officers' shoes or driven a mule team under Sherman was glory 
enough for an ordinary lifetime. 




Gen. W. T. Shehmax. 

(From a war time photograph.) 

Dr. Woollen tells of a pood hit, sprung iiijon him during tliis [leriod, 
at the expense of his profession. While the Twenty-seventh was at Tul- 
lahoma, the Doctor was appointed surgeon-in-charge of a large general 
hospital at Murfreesboro. This was a high compliment to the Doctor, his 
age considered, but that has nothing to do with the story. .A.s one of the 
steps in securing discipline in the hospital and ridding it of numerous 
species of disorder and incompetency, with their resulting filth and con- 
tagion, among which was hospital gangrene, the Doctor early established 
a system of rigid weekly inspections, according to Army Regulations. At 
the first inspection he found much that comfirmed him as to the call for 
such a course, as well as some crude but sincere preparations. 

Upon approaching a certain bed in one of the wards, however, he 
could see at a glance that everything was in striking contrast to some 
that he had foun<l before that. Here was a trained soldier. All the sur- 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIAXA. 46H 

roundings were neatly tidied, the bed was clean, made up perfectly and 
all of its accessories arranged in apple-pie order. On its foot sat its occu- 
pant, convalescent, as the majority in the hospital were. When the Doctor 
drew near the man rose to his feet and saluted, then stood at attention. 
The Doctor briefly complimented him and was passing on, when the man 
said, " I see you don't know me, Doctor." Dr. Woollen took a second 
look at him, but was obliged to confess that he did not recollect him. 
" Why," said the man, " 1 belong to your regiment, the Twenty-seventh 
Indiana." The Doctor expressed his pleasure, and again complimented 
the man onhisevident soldierly qualities, remarking upon the fact also that 
he had been detailed to do duty away from the regiment a considerable part 
of the time. The man then stated that he also had been absent on 
detached duty when taken sick. " What have you been doing?" was the 
natural incpiiry of the Doctor. With a wave of his hand and a twinkle in 
his eye, the man replied, " I have been engaged in the same occupation 
as yourself. Doctor, I have been brigade butcher." 

Many of the Twenty-seventh will doubtless remember the incident 
about the coffin, at Tallahoma. Among the quartermaster's stores, kept 
m the old depot, not very carefully guarded, was a lot of plain, unpainted 
poplar coffins. All who were about the building, as most of us were 
occasionally, were accustomed to seeing them, piled up in one end of the 
disorderly room. But at length, one of them came up missing. Rather a 
strange thing to steal, was a coffin. Still the quarterma.ster had to ac- 
count for them, the same as for other property, and he did not care to 
pay for one out of his own pocket. The search for it was entered upon 
somewhat hopelessly, however, as no one could think of anybody having 
any use for a coffin, except to split it up for kindling, in which case it 
would be useless to h nt for it now. In this respect the searching party, 
as well as the cjuartermaster, was soon agreeably surprised. Before going 
far they found the missing article, snugly stowed away in a soldier's quar- 
ters, in a perfect state of preservation, lie had taken it to uxe as a cup- 
hoard. 

A certain squad of Twenty-seventh boys (though scarcely boys now) 
still have fun among themselves, when they meet, as they only can at 
long intervals (for half the continent divides them), over a little episode 
at Tullahoma, with reference to an oyster supper. They thought it would 
be nice to have such a supper, at the house of one of the friendly citizens. 
They were to furnish the oysters and all the necessary adjuncts, while the 
friendly people of the house were to furnish the room for the assemblage 
and the cooks, inviting for this purpose sundry young ladies of the town. 
No need to state that here was the real attraction. All went well, but the 
supper was unaccountably long in preparation. Some of the boys, better 
acquainted than the rest, had suggested that, if the ladies did not under- 
stand how to cook oysters, they would be only too glad to assist them. 
Their services were declined with thanks. The ladies knew perfectly 
well how to cook oysters. \'ery late, the guests were at last called into the 
dining room. As they sat down to the table, the hostess apologized, very 
humbly, for the tedious delay, and expressed the fear that the boys would 
not find the oysters very good. Sh^ said she had boiled t/iem for over an 
lioitr ai'd yet they irould not get tender! 



CHAPTER XXX. 



RES AC A. 



On Tuesday morning, April 28, the Twenty-seventh, 
having bidden good-by to friends, turned away from familiar 
scenes and marched out of Tullahoma. It was now entering 
upon the famous battle summer of 18()4. The day proved to 
be sultry, and there was soon a radical discarding of over- 
coats, blankets and surplus clothing. Soldiers early learn to 
be wary about what they try to carry on a march ; but when 
there is a possibility of more cold weather, and some uncer- 
tainty as to how- fast or how far the march is to be, the 
impulse is strong to hold on to articles of comfort. In addi- 
tion to the heat to-day the movement was sprightly. Conse- 
(jueutly the road was speedily strewn with various articles 
that the boys concluded to dispense with. Towards evening 
there was an April shower. Dechard was our stopping place 
for the night. 

This time the column di\erged eastward from the rail- 
road at Dechard, and saw^ it no more between that and 
Bridgeport. The second night, after an all day's ascent of 
the mountain, we stopped at University Place. This was 
another one of those localities the extreme beauty and attract- 
iveness of which was marred only by the fact that a bloody 
war was raging. The rebel General Polk, of whom we are 
to hear later, had some leading part in establishing the college 
here. In descending from the mountain our course lay down 
the valley of Battle Creek. The roads were rough at best, 
and the rains falling every day did not improve them. 

On Sunday, May 1, Bridgeport was reached, the Tennes- 
see river was crossed, and the march continued on to Shell- 
mound. This was the first day since starting that it did not 
rain. 

A half day's marcii on the l\l brought us to Whitesides. 
This was the rallying point for our corps. We were again 
with troops here with which we had long been associated, but 
which we had not seen since the past summer. A marked 



TWENTV-SK\K.\ ril INDIANA. 465 

change had come over the weatliei". When we started earlv 
the following morning the ground was frozen. The stop for 
dinner that day was in the shadow of Lookout Mountain. In 
the afternoon we passed around the base of Lookout, into the 
Chattanooga Valley, and camped not far from the town. 
Another early start on the 1th took us over Missionarv liidge, 
through Rossville, and into camp for the night at Lee and 
Gordon's mill. 

For several days we had been marching over notable 
ground. Most of the names along the wav. even the names 
of small villages and little streams, had been blazed many 
times over in flaming headlines. The latter part of the march 
to-day had been over the battlefield of Chickamauga. The 
evidences of its severity were still verv apparent. The tim- 
ber splintered and scarred, the ground strewn with fragments 
of all kinds of articles used by armies, and the unburied, or 
half buried and now uncovered, skeletons of human beings 
again impressed us shockingly with the fact that war is the 
same everywhere. Almost everv member of the Twentv- 
seventh had near relatives, or intimate personal friends, in 
the battle of Chickamauga, many of whom lost their lives. 

On the 5th we marched in the direction of Ringgold. 
Passing Rock Spring we camped for the night at Pleasant 
Grove church. The following day we did not mo\e. Tav- 
lor's Ridge still separated us from the main body of our army. 

This whole region of country is verv broken. Running 
from northeast to southwest are numerous " ridges,'' so called. 
They are really formidable mountains. They are practically 
impassable, except through certain low places, or gaps, to be 
found only at intervals of several miles. Between these 
ridges the ground is often very rough, cut up by small streams 
and deep ravines. In war time only patches of the ground, 
here and there, w'ere cleared. 

On the 7th we passed through Nickajack Gap, a break in 

Taylor's Ridge. It is a long, narrow, rocky defile, wild and 

picturesque, and associated with Indian history and legends, 

as so much of this region is. A few men could defend 

Nickajack Gap against an army; but the passage of the Union 

army through it had not been disputed. We stopped at a 

place bearing the suggestive name of " Trickum," otherwise 

known as Anderson PostofHce. 

We had now arrived in close proximity to the bulk of 
30 



46G HISTORY OV THE 

Sherman's army. It was at this time confronting another 
'"ridge," known as ■•Rocky Face." Sharp cannonading 
was in progress in many phices, and there had been some 
sharp fighting bv the infantry. 

Perhaps before going further a few words as to the gen- 
eral situation may aid in understanding what follows. The 
rebel army against which ours was now advancing was com- 
manded by Gen. Joseph K. Johnston, one of the ablest of 
their military men. lie had an army of between sixt^- and 
seventy thousand, all told. To combat this rebel army Sher- 
man had about an even one hundred thousand, of all ranks. 
This dift'erence was not great, considering that Sherman was 
the aggressor, and that the further he advanced the more it 
would deplete his army, to keep open his line of supplies. 
His well-understood purpose was to advance upon and capture 
Atlanta, then, as now, considered the "' Gate City '" of the 
vSouth. Its possession by the Ihiion army would greatly 
cripple the rebellion. The struggle for its possession could 
not, therefore, be otherwise than fierce and prolonged. 

Sherman was already far in the interior of the enemy's 
country. The railroad over which he received his supplies 
was liable to interruption at any time, as far back as Louis- 
ville, Kentuckv, and iiad to be carefullv guarded the whole 
distance. 0\er it must come an average of one hundred and 
forty-five car loads of stuff' dailv, or suff'ering must ensue. 

But never was an armv more thoroughly reduced to a 
basis of actual necessities. We have seen that when the 
Twenty-seventh started out at first, it had more than thirty 
teams of its own. On the return from Coonrod's ferry we 
saw a hundred or more wagons marked as if they might 
belong to General Banks and his stafif. On this Atlanta cam- 
paign a regiment was limited to one four-mule team and a 
company to one pack mule. Officers of all grades were prac- 
tically denied all transportation for personal effects. A loss to 
this narrative has been that the regimental l)ooks were sent 
to the rear at this time and no member of the Twenty-seventh 
has set eyes on them since. Another change ordered at tiiis 
time was that a considerable number of men employed about 
company and regimental headquarters, in the medical and 
commissary departments, etc., who heretofore had been ex- 
cused from all other duty, were now recpiired to take their 
muskets and go into the ranks in time of b ittle. The plan 



T\VENTV-SK\KN TH INDIANA. 467 

was that all wiio consumed supplies must contribute to the 
tightiug strengtii. 

Returning now to the narrative of events, we find Sher- 
man's army assembled in front of Rocky Face ridge, mostly 
near a gap known as Mill Creek, or '' Buzzard's Roost." This 
gap was held by the enemy, who had strongly fortified it, and 
it would seem that, even before the arrival of our division, 
Sherman had decided not to attempt to take the place by 
direct assault. Such an attempt would make it more of a 
buzzard's roost than ever. On the contrary, he had decided 
upon one of the tlaiik movements for which tliis campaign 
tjecame famous. (General McPherson had been sent to try a 
passage through Snake Creek Gap, another opening in the 
same chain of mountains, several miles to the southwest. 
Snake Creek Gap was found unguarded and McPherson's 
army promptly passed through. 

The 'J'wentieth Corps being ordered to follow McPher- 
son, the Twenty-seventh started at midnight on the Dth, and 
passed through Snake Creek Gap the next afternoon. This 
gap receives its name from a creek, whose tortuous course 
resemi:)les the trail of a snake, and \\hich passes through this 
opening in the mountains. It would be difficult to find a 
wilder, more uncanny-looking place, than Snake Creek Gap. 
Here one could study nature in its. untamed, gigantic aspects. 
In many places the rocks tower very high on both sides of 
the road, and the narrow space between the clifi's is often filled 
with tall trees and a dense growth of under brush and vines. 
Damp and shadowy, and resonant with reverberating noises 
and echoes, it seemed like the entrance to a cavern. 

Our l)rigade at length camped upon low ground, along 
Snake creek, at the eastern extremity of the gap. In the 
night there was a iieavy thunder shower, accompanied with a 
high wind. Many tents were blown down and in an incredi- 
bly short time the water of the creek began to overflow the 
camp. Xever was the old brigaae so cpiickly routed and dis- 
comfited. Bareheaded, shoeless and pantless, the men stood 
not on the order of their going, but gathering their worldlv 
efi'ects in their arms, went skurr\ing to the higher ground 
along the hillsides. The rapid Hashes of lightning not onlv 
guided their course, but also exposed their condition and con- 
duct to onlookers. 

P^ven before the Twentieth Corps luul entirely cleared 



4G8 insTOKv ov the 

Snake Creek Gap the rebel coininander evacuated Mill Creek 
Gap, and the region of country adjacent, and moved back to 
Resaca, Tliis point had been previously fortified, as if in prep- 
aration for such a move. That a battle would be fought here 
soon became evident. 

The country around Resaca is rough and. at this date, was 
largely timbered. It required considerable time, therefore, to 
locate the positions of the enemy, and get readv to attack 
them. For two days our part of the army seemed to be wait- 
ing for roadwav. When we finally began moving to the left, 
to the northwarc. of the town, progress was gradual. Most of 
the time heavy skirmishing was going on in our hearing. On 
the 18th and 14th of May, there was savage fighting. We 
took no part di recti v. though we were fiequently exposed to 
overshots. 

On the evening of the 14th, a portion of our division was 
given an opportunity to demonstrate what it could do. As 
we were moving to the left the enemy made an impetuous 
attack upon a part of our line, near where we happened to be, 
and broke through it. The infantry was giving ground in 
some disorder and a battery of artillery was on the point of 
being taken, in fact, was already inside of tlie enemy's line. 
But (jeneral Williams, our tlivision commander, promptly 
formed his Third 15rigade (ours was now the Second Brigade) 
and thrust it into the breach. The movement was admirable, 
both in its manner and in the success which it could not fail 
to realize. The tide ^vas forthwith turned, the enemy was 
sent whirling backward, the battery was saved and all lost 
ground was recovered. 

It was curious how quickly this incident put an end to 
the previous ill feeling of some of the men of the Western 
army towards those who had recently come from the Arniv 
of the Potomac. This was particularly true of those who 
witnessed it. The foolish impression was more or less preva- 
lent in the Western army that the reason why the .Vrmv of 
the Potomac had not taken Richmond was because it would 
not fight. This did not seem to have its origin in sectional 
prejudice, for we who belonged in the ^Vest were no more ex- 
empt from the accusation than others. The statistics of bat- 
tle losses, and other facts about the severity of battles, were 
not as well known then as now. When the Twenty-seventh 
was passing through Tennessee, on its way from the Armv of 



TWENTY-SEVEN' 111 INDIANA. 400 

the Potomac, an Indiana re<jinicnt was guarding the railroad 
over whicli we traveled. It iiad been organized at Camp 
Morton at the same time that the Twenty-seventh was, and 
had started to the field about the same time. Up to this point 
in its service it had onlv met tlie enemv in one insignificant 
engagement, and then had been captured bodily. This record, 
if not blameworthy, was certainly nothing to boast of. The 
foregoing pages may indicate, in a feeble wav, what the rec- 
ord of the Twenty-seventh had been. Yet the members of the 
other regiment taunted us, as we passed by, with such shouts 
as ".Ml quiet on the Potomac,'' "Fall in for soft bread," 
" Hello, paper collar soldiers," " Hadn't vou better stop and 
black your shoes," etc., etc. i3ut the way our Army of the 
Potomac men handled theinselves, and the wav they handled 
the enemy at this time largely put a stop to such things. 

Old '• Pap "" Williams evidently thought of these matters 
in this connection. He was a Western man himself, at least 
by adoption, and was in full sympathy with Western people 
and their ways. But he could not resist the temptation to 
even up with men when he had such a good opportunity. As 
the men of the line that had been broken came tumbling 
back, and officers appealed to him with much warmth to come 
to their assistance, lie said, " Yes, yes, get your men out of 
the way. I have some soldiers here (barely a slight emphasis 
on the word soldiers) from the Army of the Potomac, who 
can take care of these rebels.'" 

By the morning of the loth the Twentieth Corps had 
mostly reached the vicinity of its assigned position. After 
some preliminary moves the Twenty-seventh finally took its 
place in the line of the brigade, which was formed along a 
timbered ridge (not a mountain) overlooking a wide ravine, 
along which the groiuul was somewhat open. The whole line 
then moved forward across the ravine and open ground, 
almost to the crest of the next ridge, which was not as high 
as the first had been. This advance brought some of the regi- 
ments to our left out into the cleared fields, near the log farm- 
house of one J. F. Scales. This house was some two miles 
north of Resaca, near the railroad, on its west side. 

In this position the Twenty-seventh was on the right of 
the brigade. The Second Massachusetts joined us on the 
left, while next to us on the right was the Forty-sixth Penn- 
sylvania, of the First Brigade. The enemy's main entrenched 



470 IllS'lOIO Ol- THE 

line was one hundred and twenty vards in front of our.-. 
Further to our left his line curved back somewhat, to conform 
to the ridge upon which it was located, and was, therefore, 
further away from the Union line. The ground between the 
two lines varied considerably, but it was all more or less tim- 
bered, except just about the Scales house. As lias been said, 
the line of the Twenty-seventh was not (juite upon the crest 
of the ridge, but slightly back from it. After the crest was 
passed the ground immediately in our tVont descended gradu- 
ally, through open timber, for eiglUy yards. Forty vards 
further on, upon quite a steep bluff, was the enemv"s line, 
behind a good breastwork of timber and eartli. The fact will 
be clear to all soldiers that nothing but the trees, which stood 
between the enemy's line and our own, and which hid the one 
from the other, prevented active hostilities from the start. 

When the writer, and others formerly connected with 
the Twenty-seventh, visited this field in 1895, the land near 
the position of the regiment had been cleared. A cotton 
field extended from the swale, back of where our line was, 
forward to the base of the bluff occupied by the enemy's line. 
A log farmhouse stood near the exact spot where the right of 
the Twenty-seventh rested against the lef"t of the Forty-sixth 
Pennsylvania. The various positions were identified bevond 
a doubt and the distances \yere carefully measured. The 
ground not having been cleared at that point, the excavation 
for the enemy's breastworks were still plainly visible. 

The thought underlying the enemy's action on this part 
of the field of Resaca, and which brought on the engagement 
at this point, was the same that we sliall see so frequentlv 
controlled him in this campaign, namely, to take advantage 
of our side before it was fully established. We had only 
begun on our breastworks, therefore, when the advance of 
the enemy was reported. The attack began on our left and 
swept towards our right, which was another chaiacteiistic of 
the enemy throughout the campaign. 

While we were busily engaged ujion our breastworks, a 
sharp tire suddenly opened along our skirmish line. As our 
skirmishers were under express orders not to fire their muskets, 
except under very strong provocation, Colonel Colgrove gal- 
loped his horse out to ascertain what the matter was. Com- 
pany G was acting as skirmishers, and the bovs surmised that 
Capt. Peter Fesler wouUl hear things from the colonel that 



TWKNTV-SEVKNTH IXDIAXA, 



471 



he had been known to he;ir before. On tlic contrary, when 
the colonel had inquired the cause of tlie firing', he was 
requested to come to the point where Captain Fesler was. 
He there saw, what others had seen, that the enemy's skir- 
mishers were not only pushing forward, but that their main 






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line was coming over their breastworks and forming in front 
of them. The evident design was to assault our position. 

It was very fortunate that Colonel Colgrove had gone 
forward as he had. He was thus enabled to set a trap for the 



472 HISTORY OF THE 

enemy which gave us an easy victory. Hurrying back to the 
Twenty-seventli he moved it forward ahnost half-way to the 
enemy's breastworks. There he had the men lie down where 
they w'ere largely screened from view. They were to remain 
in that position until he gave the word. The company on the 
skirmish line was to resist as long as possible, then quietly 
fall into its place in the regiment. At the command the 
whole line was to rise up, fire a careful, deliberate volley into 
the ranks of the advancing enemy, then charge them with the 
bayonet. 

These preliminaries had barely been arranged when the 
rebel line swept forward. No soldier will ever forget the 
surging emotions started within him by the announcement, 
" They're coming, boys!'' or, what is still more thrilling, the 
actual sight of the advancing column! A moment, under 
such circumstances, seems an age. .Vt this time the men of 
Company G disputed the ground inch by inch. Then, one 
by one, they quietly rallied to their places in the ranks. 
Down the hill, and out into the more level ground moved the 
men in gray! Unconscious of danger at this point, their 
steps were firm and their ranks in order. Will Colonel Col- 
grove never break the silence? 

At length, when the rebel force was only thirty-five yards 
away, the Colonel, speaking in slow, distinct tones, said. 
" Now, boys. Ready, aim, fire!" Then he fairly shrieked 
the one word " Charge !" and all the other officers repeated 
the word, with deeply surcharged feelings, "Charge!" Poor 
men of the misguided South ! It was all over in one terrible 
minute of time, and the story is soon told. Thirty-three of 
those men who, a moment before, were advancing so confi- 
dently, lay dead at our feet! Fully as many more were too 
badly wounded to be able to move without assistance; thirty- 
five others, including the colonel, were in our hands as prison- 
ers : while the balance simply turned and ran so promptly and 
swiftly that we were not able to get them. j\Iany of them 
must have thrown down their guns to facilitate their flight, 
as the ground was covered with them. 

As a further evidence and trophy of victory the Twenty- 
seventh captured the flag of the advancing rebel column. It 
reposes at the date of this writing in the flag room of the 
State Capitol, at Indianapolis. The members of the regiment 



T\VHNTY-SK\KNTir INDIANA. 47^5 

and their friends occasionally go there and take a look at it, 
merely to recall those old days. 

The battle, however, was not over. Those of the enemy 
who escaped with arms, on reaching their breastworks and 
linding that they were not pursued, faced around and opened 
lire upon us. Though weak at tirst, others must have soon 
come to their aid. It was not long until the fire became scath- 
ing. Seventy yards with a rest is a dangerous range. Colo- 
nel Colgrove gave the order to lie tlown, and forthwith we 
hugged the earth passionately, endeavoring meantime to 
return the tire. But the convexity of the bluff in front of us. 
while it aft'orded us some protection, at thesame time hindered 
us in seeing our foes. We were also exposed to a flank fire, 
so that our situation soon became critical. 

At this juncture the Colonel, upon the suggestion of the 
jNIajor and other ofticers, gave the order to return to our own 
incomplete breastworks. The attention of the men was called 
to the fact that in passing up the slope, there would be extra 
exposure, and they were instructed to move promptly, with- 
out regard to order. The movement was, therefore, made 
with slight loss. 

Following this return to our lirst position, a second rebel 
line, consisting apparently of two regiments, advanced from 
the works rather to our left. This attack fell upon the Second 
Massachusetts, as w^ell as ourselves. It came witii ardor and 
was maintained with persistence. Still, it did not stand long, 
under the combined fire of our two regiments. l?eing re- 
peated a second time, somewhat more to our left, our two 
regiments swung out in counter-charge. This is the phase of 
of the battle to which Adjutant Bryant refers when he says, 
"The Twenty-seventh Indiana and Second Massachusetts 
wheeled to the right (left) and opened fire on the flank of the 
advancing host, while the other regiments gave them volleys 
in their front."' 

Our advance at this time was to within fifty yards of the 
enenn's works. Many of our brigade have always believed 
tirmly that their line might have been driven, if not routed, at 
this time. General Williams seems to intimate as much in 
his report. He says, " I made no effort to pursue, as my 
orders were to cover and protect the left, and I was ignorant 
of the condition of aflairs with the assaulting column on the 
right." 



llISl■()u^■ oi" riiK 



During tlic entire engiigement. even after the infantry 
fire had practically ceased, we were exposed to an annoying 
tire of artillery. After we had returned finally to our hreast- 
works one of our good soldiers, Barney Cullen — a real char- 
acter among us — was killed by a sliell. The rebel artillery 
on the higher ground to our right, known at the time as '-The 
fort "' was captured, or practically so, by a part of the Twen- 
tietli Corps. Its capture iigured somewhat, in more recent 
years, in a presidential election. The capture was ejected 
by the brigade commanded by Colonel (as it was then) l^en- 





Fiusr Lr. (;k{)U(;e T. Ciiapix, Capt. J. W. Wilcoxkn. 

Company I. CoMPANy A. 

(Ahjrtally wounded at Resaca.) 

jamin Harrison. Another rebel battery off to our left, was 
more of an annoyance to our line than the one captured. 

The rebel troops in front of the Twentieth Corps at Res- 
aca belonged to Stewart's diyision of IIood"s corps. The 
claim is made by writers on that side that their assault failed 
because, through a misunderstanding, .Stewart undertook to do 
alone what his and Steyenson's division were to do jointly. 
The claim is that these two divisions were ordered to attack 
the Union line at this point, this afternoon, and arrangements 
had been made to that effect. But just before the attack was 
made (General Johnston, the rebel commander, learned of the 



TWEN rV-SEVKNIir INDIANA. 475 

crossing at Lay's ferry, of a part of Sherman's army, and 
decided not to make the projected attack. His orders to that 
efTect reached Stevenson in time to keep him out of the tight, 
though they failed to reach Stewart in time to prevent him 
from bringing it on. 

In view of tlie facts as we saw them, the above statements 
.seem verv strange. The engagement along our front continued 
for at least an hour and a half. During all of this time the 
enemy was acting upon the offensive. Though not resolute 
or determined to a marked degree, he still manifested some 
spirit and persistence. If the battle was brought on under a 
misapprehension, that it should be continued as a losing fight 
for so long, or that it should require so much time for those in 
control to come to an understanding among themselves, seems 
mysterious. Whatever may be the facts, however, on this 
point, it was certainly fortunate for them that other troops 
w^ere not put in. To have doubled the force against Williams' 
division, or to have doubled the enthusiasm back of the assault, 
would only have doubled the loss sustained, and the disap- 
pointment of defeat. The assault as it was, was so very inef- 
fectual, so very far from the least sign of success, that it is 
impossible to conjecture what might have rendered it other- 
wise. Not over half of Williams' division took any part in the 
battle, and those that did take part were only getting fairly at 
it when the battle was over. 

The rebel force which first attempted to assault the posi- 
tion of the Twenty-seventh was a consolidation of the Thirty- 
sixth and Thirty-eighth Alabama Regiments. Colonel Lank- 
ford, the officer captured, had been the colonel of the latter, 
but the two organizations were at this time under his com- 
mand. Colonel Colgrove met this gentleman shortly after the 
war. He was very friendly and jokingly accused the Colont-l 
of playing him a " Yankee trick," at Resaca. Colonel Col- 
grove did not deny the charge, but pleadetl that " anything is 
fair in love and war."' 

The circumstances attending Colonel Lankford's capture 
are still distinctly remembered by many of the Twenty-seventh. 
He was a short, stout-built man, and when taken, was sweaty, 
red in the face and puffing like a wood chopper. Of course 
he could not be otherwise than greatly crestfallen over the way- 
matters had turned. He came very near losing his life, 
partiv through a misapprehension. It happened, naturally. 



470 I1IS'1-()RV OF THE 

that the first members of the Twenty-seventh to reach him 
were enlisted men. They did not think of the point of honor 
involved in a person surrendering to one of his own class ; 
while it seemed that Colonel Lankford was quite strenuous 
about it. l^efore he could make himself understood more than 
one soldier would have shot him, if others had not prevented 
them. They thought he was too slow in giving up his sword. 
When it was ascertained what his contention was, it required 
but a moment for one of our commissioned officers to step 
forward and receive the sword. 

To Elijah White, of Company D, belongs the honor of 
first laying hands on the rebel colors. In a case like this, 
where a line of men dashes forward in a body, there is no 
great propriety in gi\'ing the credit of special captures to any 
one person. \Vith most of the men, under such circumstances, 
the fact that they remain dutifully in their places, and perform 
well the parts assigned them, stands in the way of their 
making the capture. Not only so, but, in doing this, they 
supply the force, they make the impression upon the enemy, 
which alone renders the capture possible. In other words, it 
is the command, the organized body of men, that really makes 
the capture. But, as far as any one man is entitled to the 
credit of capturing this rebel llag, it unquestionably belongs 
to White. The writer has no personal interest in the matter, 
and his rule has been not to attempt to settle the disputes of 
the men of the regiment. This seems to be entirely one-sided, 
however. Though the label upon this flag in the State House 
divides the honor between White and another, the prevalent 
sentiment of the men who were present is certainly decidedly 
against it. 

Colonel Colgrove wrote to the adjutant-general of Indiana 
a few days after the battle of Resaca. that this flag had 
inscribed upon it the name of the regiment, namely, the 
Thirty-eighth Alabama, and the following battles : Chicka- 
mauga. Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and Tunnel 
Hill. 

Xo official reports were made on this Atlanta campaign 
until after its close; then all of the battles, and other matters 
of interest, were reported at onetime. The manifest improve- 
ment in reports as the war progressed has been previously 
referred to. It is pleasant, on that ac:ount, to read these 
reports. Almost w-ithout exception, they evince a thoughtful 



t\ventv-sp:vexti[ Indiana. 477 

care not to say anything but the exact truth about their own 
commands or others ; and (|uite as much concern is evident 
to be just and courteous towards others and to say a good 
word about them, when it comes in the way, as to do the 
same for themselves or their own commands. Some of these 
reports constitute quite satisfactory histories, in outline, of 
the campaign. 

Colonel Colgrove was absent from the Twenty-seventh 
when the reports were called for, on account of his wound at 
Peach Tree Creek. The duty of reporting for our regiment de- 
volved, therefore, upon Lieutenant-Colonel Fesler. His own 
personal modesty is exemplitied in tlie brevity of his report. 
With respect to Resaca he says : '' Sunday, May 15, advanced, 
by General Ruger's orders, driving the enemy's pickets, until 
within two hundre 1 yards of his rifle-pits. We were then 
halted in line of battle, with skirmishers deployed in front, 
about seventy-five yards. About four o'clock the Thirtv- 
eighth Alabama Regiment made a charge on the Twenty- 
seventh, which was handsomely repulsed, w'ith a loss of their 
colors, thirty-five prisoners, including Colonel Lankford, 
commanding the regiment, and thirty-three killed." 

General Ruger gives a very accurate description of the 
ground occupied by his brigade, one that would enable a 
person to locate it at any time. Of the Twenty-seventh he 
speaks as follows : " On the right, the Twenty-seventh 
Indiana Volunteers captured the flag and commander of the 
Thirty-eighth Alabama, and thirty odd prisoners." 

General Williams speaks in the same strain. lie says : 
'' The colors and colonel, wMth other officers and men, of the 
Thirty-eighth Alabama, were captured by the Twenty-seventh 
Indiana Volunteers, Colonel Colgrove, of Ruger's brigade, 
and the division took about one hundred and twenty-five 
prisoners." 

The battle of Resaca was fought on .Sunday, May 15. 
On Sunday, May 25, 18G2, the Twenty-seventh was in the 
battle of Winchester. On Sunday, May 3, 1868, it was in 
the battle of Chancellorsville. Ten days after this battle, on 
May 25, it was in the battle of New Hope Church. Thus 
no May passed, during its history, without a battle, and 
during one May it had two battles. It had four battles in 
the month of May, three of them being on Simday. 

The casualities at I^esaca were not e(|ual to what we I^ad 



478 iiisrom ok iiie 

been accustomed to, yet the evidences were not wanting that, 
in places, the enemy suffered very severely. The effective- 
ness of the fire of the Twenty-seventh must have been unusual. 
The single volley fired into the ranks f the Alabamians was 
one to remember. Thirty-three killed dead, in addition to 
the wounded, by the discharge of less than two hundred and 
fifty muskets, is exceptional in warfare. A conservative 
officer of the Twenty-seventh, who went over the field with 
a party of others, reports that it was the observation of all 
that the rebel dead covered the ground more thickly in front 
of our position than at any other point, though their loss was 
evidently in excess of the Union loss at all points. 

The so-called "fort '' or battery, captured by Harrison's 
brigade, is reported by the same officer as being a small nat- 
ural sink, or basin, around which the soil had been somewhat 
rudely heaped up, so as to afford some protection to those 
inside. It had been the center of a tremendous fire. The 
ground was dug into holes, scarred and pulverized, every 
bush and switch was cut into shreds, and an officer and seven- 
teen men were lying dead, aside of the captured guns. These 
last had the appearance of having been killed mostly by 
artillery. 

The enemy evidently abandoned this part of the field of 
Resaca in considerable precipitation. Many things indicated 
this. At one point forty-five boxes of musket cartridges, cal- 
ibre 58, were left snugly stacked up, in perfect condition. At 
another point were twenty boxes of artillery ammunition, 
calibre 1:? pounds. But the wildest and most inexcusable 
haste was shown in their heartless abandonment of their 
wounded. These they had largely deserted, leaving them in 
their helpless suffering. An extreme case was that of a rebel 
major, found upon the amputating table, some distance back 
of the battlefield. The surgeons had doubtless abandoned 
him while in the very act of amputating his leg. When the 
advance of our brigade came up the poor man was just com- 
ing out from the influence of the anaesthetics, and begged pit- 
eously for some one to shoot him. He wanted to die, rather 
than to suffer longer. 

The amputating table was a temporary contrivance, 
arranged under an old out-shed, near a poor log dwelling- 
house. Close by the table was a large pile of arms and legs, 



TWKNTV-SK\KNTH INDIANA. 470 

which had been cut from other victims. Ail were entirely 
deserted! Not ii surgeon or nurse about. Chivalry! 

Color vSergt. Peter Ragle was wounded through the 
shoulder in the battle of Resaca, and Corporal Stephenson, of 
the Color Guard, was wounded by the same bullet. Corporal 
John 11. Langford. of Companv K, carried tlie state ilag in 
this battle. lie passed through here unhurt, but had been 
wounded at Chancellorsville and was wounded again at New 
Hope Church. 

It is pleasant to recall the relation of mutual confidence, as 
well as esteem, evinced by all of the regiments of the brigade 
at Resaca and subsequently, as indeed it is to note the evident 
reasons for it. The three newer regiments took their places 
here, if they had not done so before, with the three older reg- 
iments, as real veterans. The Thirteenth New Jersey, One 
Hundred and Seventh and One Hundred and Fiftieth New 
York, were the three newer regiments referred to. The One 
Hundred and Seventh New York was in support of the 
Twenty-seventh during most of the engagement. Every man 
among them seemed to be desperately in earnest, and not only 
ready but anxious to take an active part in the work in hand. 

All battles had their aniusin.t:^, laughable incidents. It was one of 
the blessings of the situation that the men would remember them after 
the battle was over, and recount them to each other. It enabled them to 
dwell less upon those phases of war that are naturally so shocking. 
Resaca had its share of these incidents and some of them remam as tradi- 
tions among the men to the present time. 

A ludicrous circumstance occurred on the return from the advanced 
position, where the Twenty-seventh met the Alabama men. Without 
knowing it, two men of different companies had become hitched together. 
The knapsack strap of one was looped over the end of the other's ramrod. 
The fact was only revealed to them when, going at a double-cjuick, under 
fire, they undertook to pass on different sides of the same tree. Here 
they were brought up short. Rut instead of stopping and unhooking 
themselves, they tried, rather, to break themselves apart. So there they 
were, see-sawing like an untrained team trying to start a heavy load. All 
the other men had passed them and the rebel bullets were barking the 
tree, cutting the limbs and throwing up the dirt. At length the true 
state of the case seemed to have dawned upon them and they stopped and 
calmly disengaged themselves. Fortunately, neither of them was hit. 

Another incident ecjually amusing in some of its aspects, had other 
features more serious. A man in one of the companies, in some way, lost 
the hammer off of his musket, about the time the action was beginning. 
He therefore went to the Colonel and in something of a whining tone, said, 
" Colonel, what shall I do, I have lost the cock off of my gun?" The Colonel 
said, " l)-n It, come on, you can .soon get another one." The Colonel 



480 IIISTOUV OF THE 

meant, of course, that it would not be long, probably, until some one would 
get hurt and the man could then have his gun. All the men laughed and 
might have forgotten the circumstance except for what followed. 

When the Twenty-seventh swept forward on its charge, a rebel was 
overtaken, who at once surrendered. No one took him to the rear, how- 
ever, and,' in the melee which followed, he was forgotten. When the 
Twenty-seventh was again returning to its own breastworks, in such 
haste, who should they pass but this rebel. Some of them had gone by 
him and he must have thought all had dene so. Anyway, true to his 
" Southern chivalry," he was in the act of shooting one of our soldiers who 
had already passed him. 

But the man with the liammerlcss musket appeared upon the scene 
again. Instead of picking uj) another musket he was using the detached 
handle of a frying ])an in place of the hammer. When he saw what the 
rebel was about to do, he dexterously brought his musket around and 
whack! he took the cap, with the frying-pan handle. The rebel, of course, 
went down. It was an illustration of how much depends, not only u])on 
the gun, but the man liehind it. 

It was here at Resaca also that Captain Balsley's Irishman, Dan, 
got the best of the provost guards. On the way, somewhere, when coming 
from the Eastern army, Captain Balsley had recruited a fresh arrival, 
from over the briny deep. The older members of the company had tor- 
mented the raw recruit not a littleby telling him, among other things, that 
it was a very dreadful thing to go into a battle, and that he would be sure to 
get panicked in the first one and run away. This probably stimulated 
him to do his best and show them a thing or two. In the counter-assault 
upon the Alabamians, Dan was, therefore, in the front rank. Spying a 
rebel behind a tree, he rushed up and seized hold of him. With vigorous 
jerks and kicks and many loud demonstrations of triumph and satisfac- 
tion, he brought him to the Captain. The Captain, in turn, ordered Dan 
to take his prisoner to the rear, which he proceeded to do with much jiride 
and pomp. 

Back some distance D.m encountered the provost guard, with aline 
duly established, both to take care of prisoners and to prevent able- 
bodied soldiers from running out of the fight. "Halt, there!" they said 
to Dan. " Halt tlu; divil." said Dan. "Captain Balsley he tould me to 
tak this mon to the rear, so he did." But they persisted. " Halt! We'll 
take care of the prisoner; just leave him with us." "OchI to hell widyes, 
ye durty spalpeens," roared Dan. But, as if willing to oblige them all he 
could, waving his hand back in the direction from which he had come, 
and where the fighting was still in progress, he said, in his blandest tones, 
" There's plenty ov 'em right over there. If ye's want wun, jist step over 
and get wun for yer'self." 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



NEW HOPE CHURCH. 

The night of May 15, following the battle of Resaca, 
was rainy and cold for the season. Owing to all the condi- 
tions, therefore, it was cheerless, if not gloomy. The loss in 
the Twenty-seventh, though more than half the aggregate 
loss of the brigade, was so much less than we had been accus- 
tomed to that, in a sense, we congratulated ourselves on get- 
ting oflF so light. Still, soldiers had sensibilities as well as 
other people, and even a small loss at this time cut deep. 
De Quincy's celebrated description of the broken string and 
the costly pearls dropping, one by one, into the sea, does not 
present a situation anything like as pathetic as the ever- 
recurring, inexorable losses of a company or regiment. What 
are pearls, even the most costly of them, compared with 
trained, courageous, devoted soldiers, who have served so long 
and who so richly deserve to live and enjoy some of the 
rewards of their sacrifices r 

All was quiet along our front through the night, though 
there was some savage picket firing farther to our right. 
When morning came we were not surprised to find the enemy 
gone. Our pickets had heard and reported things during the 
night that indicated as much. Neither was there a ques- 
tion in the mind of any one about our army pursuing. 

Almost as much time was required for Sherman's army 
to move out of its hampered position around Resaca as was 
required in getting into it. The whole of it was forced into 
the few narrow, crooked and poorly improved roads. For 
that reason the Twentieth Corps was obliged to swing around 
considerably eastward. The Twenty-seventh crossed the Con- 
nessauga at Green's Ferry, near where we had been engaged, 
and marched that day to the vicinity of Bryant's Ford, on 
the Coosawatta. The next day we crossed the Coosawatta in 
the rain and made our way laboriously southward. In the 
afternoon the rain ceased, but our progress was still slow and 
wearisome. We halted for the night three or four miles east 

31 



482 HISTORY Ol TIIK 

ward of Calhoun. This evening, at the end of two days of 
tedious inarching, we were not twenty miles, in a straight 

line, from our starting point. The night was pleasant, with 
a bright moon, and after supper our brigade band gave us 
some of their cheering music. The spirits of all were quick- 
ened very perceptibly. 

May 18, the camp was aroused at 3 a. m., but the march 
was not resumed until after a. m. .Vfter starting the 
march was again delayed for want of road room. Heat and 
dust were also prominently in evidence. It is understood 
now that Johnston had decided to assail a part of Sherman's 
army to-day. lie was advised of its scattered condition and 
was aware also, of course, of the difHculties in the way of its 
concentration. He hoped, therefore, to gain some advantage 
from these things. But one of his division commanders, 
Hardee, was so slow in his movements that nothing was 
done. Sherman divined Johnston's purpose, however, and 

he latter would have found the Union army not wholly 
unprepared for him. These facts explain whv such urgent 
efforts were observable among us to push forward, v'^till, the 
roads over which we passed were so very poorly adapted to 
the requirements of an armv that, with all our exertion and 
bv marching until late at night, we only made twenty miles. 
On the 19th, for some reason, we did not move until 
afternoon. When we did start we soon found that the enemy 
was disposed to resent our further advance, and our column 
was thrown into battle formation. Our division was to the 
left of the road upon which we were approaching Cassville. 
\\Mth skirmishers out, and sometimes engaged, we moved 
through alternating timber and brush and plowed fields up to 
the edge of the town. At one point the Twenty-seventh was 
halted near a farmhouse, on elevated ground. A section or 
so of Battery M, First New York Artillery, was unlimbered 
near the house, perhaps in the yard, and was firing slowly 
upon the enemy. Sitting in a chair near the guns was " Pap " 
Williams, coolly giving orders to the gunners, between puffs 
at his pipe. A diary says : " Colonel Colgrove was put under 
arrest to-day for halting the column." No further facts have 
developed concerning this circumstance, and there could have 
been nothing serious about it, if any of it was true. The 
harvest moon was largely obscured that night by fog, but the 



TWENIV-SKVKNTII INDIANA. 483 

Twent^'-seventh put in tlie most of the ni^ht in building 
breastworks. Picket tiring continued a good part of the time. 

It is also a part of history now that General Johnston 
had decided to oftVr l)attle here at Cassville. lie believed 
that in the topography of the country barely out of the town, 
on the south, he recognized an ideal defensive battlefield. 
But later he understood two, out of three, of his corps com- 
manders to be lukewarm about the advisability of it; so he 
abandoned the plan and moved on. 

The next day, Alay 20, the Union army advanced into 
the town and took possession. This seems to have been done 
in a more literal sense than was often the case. Being exactly 
between the lines, while the two opposing armies were drawn 
up in hostile array, most of the people of the place had aban- 
doned their homes in great haste, without attempting to carry 
much witJ] them, or to put anything away. It was said that 
the rebel commander had urged, and almost compelled, them 
to do this. When, therefore, our army entered in the early 
morning, everytiiing was at their disposal. Tiiere are state- 
ments made about soldiers feasting in kitchens and cellars, of 
revelries in parlors and drawing-rooms, of performances on 
pianos and other musical instruments, and of unusual and 
extravagant uses to which various articles of luxury and art 
were devoted here, that were not often true even in those 
unhappy years. It need scarcely be said that a great prepon- 
derance of Union soldiers did not approve of such things, 
much less do them. Few persons have stopped to consider 
what a small amount of private property was wantonly de- 
stroyed during the war, considering all the facts. The army 
was very large, the scope of country invaded was immense, 
the war lasted four years, there was much wealth and manv 
articles of value in the South, and more than all else, the 
people were unusually bitter, spiteful and nagging with I'nion 
soldiers: and seldom kept faith with them in any shape or 
manner. The property that was taken from motives of 
plunder or permanent personal gain was infinitely less. In 
all of the years of his service the writer did not know of a 
dollar's worth being taken from that motive. 

For three days our part of the armv rested quietly at 
Cassville. That is, the fighting contingent rested. Such 
days were always notably busy ones for those who had any- 
thing to do with supplying the necessities of the men. This 



484 HISTORY OF THE 

suspension of hcstilities was largely ordered so that shortages 
and losses of all kinds might be made up. Our commissaries 
received orders here to provide tlic troops with twenty 
days' rations of everything except meat. That would mean 
immense activity with them and in the the transportation 
depariment. The camp of the Twenty-seventh here was 
near a large flowing spring of cool, clear water, which added 
much to the enjoyment of the rest. 

On the last day of our stay at this point the non-veterans 
of the Second Massachusetts, having been mustered out, 
started for their far-away homes. Few would have predicted, 
three years before, when they enlisted, that they would not 
only be needed the full period of their enlistment, but that 
their time would expire while serving with an army in the 
midst of an arduous campaign in northern Georgia. The 
writer cannot speak of these men as individuals; but as a 
class, they had richly earned exemption from farther sac- 
rifices. 

On the 23d we were up at 2:80 a. m. and at 4 o'clock 
moved out with quick steps and earnest purposes in further 
pursuit of the enemy. Being assigned the advance, our 
brigade marched past the troops of the Twenty-third Corps 
and crossed the Etowa river on a pontoon bridge, previously 
laid by the engineers. We halted near Euharlie, in the 
middle of the afternoon. The Etowa river is called " High 
tower" by the uneducated people living along it, — a corrup- 
tion of the real name. 

The country passed over to-day was the best we saw in 
Georgia. The farms along the Etowa river are fine. There 
was no need of any meat ration being issued. The men sup- 
plied themselves bountifully with fresh pork. The hogs were 
not such as John McElroy's chum in Andersonville described 
the Georgia hog to be, namely : " A piece of skin with hair 
on both sides." On the contrary, these hogs were " Fat and 
well-favored." 

No army ever swept forward with a grander, more im- 
posing impetus than did Sherman's army to-day. Those who 
saw it, filling all the roads, its ranks compact and orderly, all 
the men spirited and confident, will have no ditTicultv in 
understanding the old, old statement, " Terrible as an armv 
with banners." 

On the 24th, we had another day of prolonged, slavish 



TWKNTY-SEVENTII INDIANA. 4S5 

marching. Most of it was in the rain, with very sultry inter- 
vals, ending with a hard rain in the evening. Our corps 
seemed to be going througli a country where a very limited 
number of people had ever wanted to go before. Though the 
roads leading in other directions w^ere improved somewhat, 
and had the appearance of having been traveled, those leading 
in the direction we were moving were mere cowpaths, travers- 
ing back districts. Few improvements of any kind were vis- 
ible and the land was largely broken and barren. The scant 
inhabitants of the country had every appearance of being in 
extreme poverty. 

An examination of the map will show why Sherman was 
thus moving his army out, away from the railroad, and away 
from the more traveled wagon roads. With Kingston as a 
base he was cutting across lots and flanking around the for- 
midable positions of his adversary at AUatoona Pass, and the 
mountains adjacent. ^Ve camped that night at Burnt Hick- 
ory. The men of Williams' division might have claimed that 
evening the right to vote in Georgia, hold office, sit on juries, 
etc., with much show of reason to support the claim. Each 
and everv one of them had enough Georgia clay and mud 
sticking to him to constitute him a genuine freeholder. 

The :25th was another hot morning, and was destined to 
be hot in another sense before night. W^e started rather late. 
After going a short distance our division diverged to the 
right, taking the road to Dallas. The other two divisions of 
the Twentieth Corps kept on the road leading by New Hope 
Church. Our division found the bridge over Pumpkin Vine 
creek partiallv destroyed and there was some delay while it 
was being repaired. W'e finally passed the creek, and had 
reached within two miles of Dallas, where we stopped for 
dinner. Here urgent orders came to return and join the other 
two di\ isions. over on the other road. They had run into the 
enernv. We hastily retraced oyr steps as far as Pumpkin 
Vine creek, then moved down its north bank to the road we 
were seeking. The impression was more or less current at 
the time that we had taken the wrong road and were, there- 
fore, obliged to make this movement, but that was an error. 

This road, upon which the Second and Third Divisions 
had been marching, is one leading from the vicinity of Burnt 
Hickory, or Huntsville, in something of a direct course, to 
Marietta. At tlu' crossing of this road with the one leading 



486 insTOKV OK THE 

from Ackworth, on tlie railroad, to Dallas, is New Hope 
Church. The country in that region is mostly very broken, 
and at this period was almost wholly covered with brush and 
timber. At this point Geary's division, which was in the 
lead, had found the way blockaded by rebels. After a vigor- 
ous march of some five miles, we found the other two 
divisions waiting for us. There had been some fighting prior 
to our arrival, but not as much as it now appears there siiouUl 
have been. 

This was another instance in the war where a slight 
delay was fatal. It is now known that the rebel army had 
only preceded our advance column at this important crossing 
by a little. While, therefore, our Second and Third Divisions 
were waiting for Williams' division to come up, it was not 
only giving the enemy time to bring up other troops, but also 
to improvise the breastworks, and plant and protect the bat- 
teries, which wrought our repulse. General vSherman sav.s 
this delay was by recjuest of General Hooker, who asked for 
the postponement of the attack until the arrival of his I'^irst 
Division. If there was a compliment to the First Division 
implied in the fact that the other two stalwart divisions of our 
corps should wait by the roadside, inactive, while we were 
hurried from a point five miles away and put in the front, the 
satisfaction of it is largely neutralized bv the additional fact 
that the golden opportunity for success was thus allowed to 
pass. General Hooker had missed imperishable fame for him- 
self, and a victory for his cause which could scarcely have 
been less than decisive, ending the war in a month, by a few 
hours delay at Chancellorsville — but the lesson was not 
heeded here. 

Immediately following our arrival, our division passed to 
the front and prepared for battle. Ascending a high ridge 
the division was formetl in three lines, on the right of the 
road, a brigade in each line. The Third Brigade was in front, 
the Second (our's) next, with the First in the rear. Two 
regiments from our brigade were not in line, having been 
assigned to other duties. The ."-Second Massachusetts was 
guarding a bridge to the rear, and the Thirteenth New Jersey 
was half a mile or so to the right, protecting that ilank. The 
positions of the remaining regiments of the brigade in line 
seem to have been as here stated, though there is some diver- 
sity of testimony. The One Hundred and Seventh New York 



TWKXTV SEXKNTH INDIANA. -4S7 

was on tlie left, joining the road. Next on their right was 
the Third Wisconsin, then the One Hundred and Fiftieth 
New Yoik, and, histly, the Twenty-seventh, on the right of 
the brigade. Colonel Ketcham, of the One Hundred and 
Fiftieth New ^'ork, says in his report that his regiment occu- 
pied the right of the brigade, but he also says the Third Wis- 
consin joined him on the left, which was true in the above 
arrangement. Lieutenant-Colonel Fesler, of the Twenty- 
seventh, says our regiment was on the extreme right, and 
Captain Williams, of Ruger's staff, also gives the above, in 
his diary, as the order of tlie regiments. 

Witiiout delay, the three lines thus formed moved for- 
ward. The skirmishers soon became hotly engaged, but 
steadily advanced. The ground the Twenty-seventh passed 
over was heavily wooded. In many places the undergrowth 
was very dense, reminding us of the thickets about Chancel- 
lorsville. The shot and shell from the enemy's batteries 
crashed through the timber, cutting off limbs, blazing and 
splitting the trees, like tremendous bolts of lightning. The 
skirmishers were instructed to keep under cover as much as 
possible, following the method prevalent in the West. They 
dodged, therefore, from tree to tree as they pushed forward, 
imitating the warfare of Indians. Several times they cut otl' 
the enemy's skirmishers in this way, and a number were cap- 
tured and sent to the rear. 

When we had gone about a mile, over broken and un(hi- 
lating ground, our brigade passed lines with the Third 
Brigade. That is. they filed to the rear by companies, while 
we advanced as we were, to take their places. Hence, the 
old brigade was again in the front line. It seemed a little 
curious that, where there were so many good soldiers, there 
could not be a battle without matters working around in that 
way. 

But there was to be no delay. The order was still " For- 
ward." The resistance was increasingly stubborn and deter- 
mined, but the line forged along. The main line had come 
up with the skirmishers, and the two were beating their way 
through the jungle together, with the enemy only a siiort 
distance ahead. 

Suddenly, a most terrific fire of both musketry and aitil- 
lery was opened upon us. We were at the foot of, or passing 
up, a gentle slope. On the crest, barely a few rods distant, 



4S8 HISTORY OF THE 

was a long parapet blazing with fire and death. The under- 
growth was so dense that few, if any, of us were aware of 
what we were coming to, until the storm burst. It came 
with so little premonition on our part, that it almost seemed 
as if the position had been purposely masked, and that we 
liad been decoyed to our death. This impression may have 
prevailed among us to some extent afterwards. It is scarcely 
necessary to say that such was not the case. The timber 
which, for lack of time and means, the enemy could not cut 
away, had, until now, prevented them from seeing us, as well 
as us from seeing them. 

It would be impossible to conceive of a more appalling, 
terrifying, if not fatal, rain of lead and iron than this one, 
which our line met at New Hope Church. The canister and 
case shot in particular, hissed, swished and sung around and 
among us, barking the trees, glancing and bounding from one 
to the other, ripping up the ground, throwing the dirt in our 
faces and rolling at our feet, until those not hit by them were 
ready to conclude that they surely would be hit. Milton's 
words were none too strong to apply to the situation : 

" f'ierce as ten furies and terrible as hell." 

Yet the boys only cheered the more defiantly , and, while load- 
ing and firing with all their might, gained ground to the 
front. Just in the hottest of the fight there was a downpour 
of rain. In the damp and murky atmosphere the smoke from 
our muskets, instead of rising and disappearing, settled 
around us and accumulated in thick clouds. The woods in 
which we were immersed became wierd and spectral. Eventu- 
ally it became almost a battle in the dark. When we were 
finally brought to a standstill it was impossible to make out 
with any distinctness even the position of the enemy. Our 
aim was directed almost wholly at the flashes and reports of 
their guns. 

The contest must have been prolonged for almost, if not 
entirely, an hour. At length Colonel Colgrove decided that it 
\vas not possible to drive the enemy from his position and that 
to continue the effort was a needless sacrifice. lie therefore 
drew the regiment back a short distance. A little later we 
were relieved by the men of tiie Third Brigade and darkness 
came on almost immediately, bringing the battle to a close. 

This engagement is now uniformlv designated by the 



T\VHX1V-SH\-ENTII INDIANA. 489 

title at tlie head of this chapter, namely, Tlie battle of New 
Hope Church. P>y many of those en<raged in it it was called 
at the time, " The Hornet's Nest,"' and "Hell Hole." In 
letters and reports of the period it was often called the " Bat- 
tle of Dallas." and sometimes •' The Hattle of Pumpkin Vine 
Creek."" This latter name is now applied to an engagement 
which occurred two days after the battle of New Hope Church, 
further down the creek, in the direction of Allatoona. 
'• Hornet's Nest " and ■•Hell Hole" are illustrations of the 
aptness, as well as the readiness, with which soldiers found 
names for any and everything. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Fesler's ofHcial report of the battle of 
New Hope Church, in full, is as follows: "Occasional skir- 
mishing from the IGth of May until the :25th of May, when 
the regiment arrived at New Hope Church, near Dallas, 
Georgia. About 4 :00 v. m. of that day General Ruger ordered 
Colonel Colgrove. commanding the regiment, to take position 
on the right of the brigade and move forward. After advanc- 
ing about 500 yards the enemy opened a very heavv fire upon 
the regiment, with musketrv and canister, from their rifle pits, 
and after flghting about forty minutes, the regiment was com- 
pelled to fall back, with a loss of five killed and forty-si.x 
wounded."" 

General Williams, in his ofHcial report, gives a verv clear 
outline of the engagement : he says in part : 

" I received an order fruni the commander of the corjjs to counter- 
march and move as rapidly as possible to the support of Geary's division. 
I marched left in front, recrossed the creek, and finding my way along 
the left bank, crossed agam on Geary's route, and, after a rapid march of 
over five miles, came uj) with Butterfield's and Geary's divisions massed 
on the road toward New Hope Churcli, and passed to the front. Receiv- 
ing orders from the corps connnander to put my division in order of at- 
tack, I deployed the division in three lines of brigade front. * * * 
The division, without sufficient halt to recover breath, moved promptly 
in advance for a mile and a half, driving the enemy before us, and forc- 
ing back his strong skirmish line and heavy reserves at double quick. It 
was (luite dark when the column reached the foot of the slopes upon 
which the enemy were strongly entrenched, and across which he threw 
shot, shell and canister in murderous volleys. During the advance the 
Second (Ruger's) Brigade passed lines with and relieved the Third (Rob- 
inson's), which was leading. "* * * The division forced its way close 
up to the enemy'- works, but darkness, rendered doubly dark by dense 
clouds pouring rain, put a stop to further efforts. * * * 'pj^g major- 
general commanding the corps followed the advance brigade of my divi- 
sion in this attack, and I feel confident will bear testimonv totlie steadi- 



400 niSTOKY OK THE 

ness, good onlrr, iierscvcrance and spirit wiili wliich it went forward until 
darkness put an end to the conflict."' 

General Ruger. in his ofHcial report, after covering sub- 
stantially the same ground as (jeneral Williams, adds : 

"The brigade attained a position in some portions of the Hne, nearer 
the enemy's works than any other of our troops, some of its dead being in 
advance of the position afterward occupied by the line of skirmishers of 
the troops which relieved the First Division. 

.Vs bearing upon this fact, mentioned by General Ruger, 
Captain Williams records in his diarv. that the body of Private 
Kutch, of Company I, of the Twenty-seventh, was found 
nearer the enemy's works than that of any other I'nion sol- 
dier. Kutch had joined the regiment as a recruit the previous 
winter. The Captain well says, " Brave Kutch ! "* 

Curiously enough, the troops which our division fouglit 
at New Hope Cliinxh were the same that they fought at Res- 
ace, — Stewart's division of Hood's corps. The conditions be- 
ing more than reversed, it is not surprising that results should, 
in a measure, be reversed also. The moral to be derived from 
the two instances seems to be that it was futile and wrong, 
armed as men were in the war of the Rebellion, for one army 
to assault another, of anything like equal strength, in its 
chosen and fortified position. \Vhat we might have accom- 
plished had we been given an opportunity to reconnoiter the 
position and come to an understanding of its situation, or had 
had a more open country and the light of day, in which to 
operate, as w'as the case with our adversaries at Resaca, can 
onlv be a matter of speculation. 

The battle of Xew Hope Church was on the second anni- 
versary of the Twenty- seventh's first baptism of fire at ^^'in- 
chester. It was therefore our second battle on the :25th of 
May, and our fourth and last in the month of May, not count- 
ing Newtown or Buckton station. The Twenty-seventh 
had three men wounded, and killed at least one of the enemy, 
in the affair at Newtown, on the 24th of May, 1862; while on 
the day previous, the 28d of May, Company B, of the Twen- 
ty-seventh, participated in the sharp encounter at Buckton. 

General Ruger reports but one man taken prisoner from 
his brigade at the battle of New Hope Church. Only one I 
Alas, that one happened to be one of the truest, most unselfish, 
devoted friends that the writer has ever known — and he never 
returned, (hiileless as a child, affectionate and confiding as a 



TWENTV-SEVENTII I \ HI ANA. 491 

woniiin, patient and genial as a saint, liis wiiite-winged soul 
went up to God from that Lazar-spot at Andersonville, in the 
summer following his capture. Heaven pity the fiends in hu- 
man form who could deliberately take the life of such a noble 
man and patriot, by the slow, heartless process of exposure 
and starvation ! Himself a stranger to passion, wholly free 
from hate or malice, he was bearing arms solely from a sense 
of duty, as he saw it, solemnly laying his life on the altar of 
country, to secure the blessings of libertv and republican gov- 
ernment to others. He could not iiave refused his last cracker, 
or the last drop of water in liis canteen, to a suffering Confed- 
erate soldier. 

To an accjuaintance in another regiment, whom he met in 
prison, and who lived to bring the word back, he related that, 
in some way, he became separated from tlie Twenty-seventh 
about the time it retired from in front of the enemy's works, 
and, becoming confused as to directions, walked straight into 
the enemy's lines. He saw a squad of men ccoking their sup- 
pers around a little fire and, going up to them, incjuired for 
the Twenty-seventh Indiana. They were rebels, and at once 
forced him to surrender. 

" His were the virtues that our grandsires knew, 

The steadfast faith, the sturdy loyalty. 
And the clean soul that, like a compass true, 

Holds straight in any sea. 



'Twas like him that he went unheraldedl 
Twas like his generous heart to give his all. 



" 'Tis of such brain and brawn that (lod has made 
A Nation, setting wide its boundary bars. 

And to its banner giving the high aid 
And courage of the stars." 

The Twenty-seventh was fortunate in its unusual exemp- 
tion from rebel prison experiences. With the exception of 
those captured at Winchester, only a small number fell into 
the enemy's hands. That was earlier in the war and their 
period of captivity was short, and a veritable play-spell, com- 
pared with what befell prisoners in 1864. 

Were it not that this one case comes so close home to him 
personally, the writer might not think it within his province 



402 HISTORY OF THE 

to go further than merely to mention this blackest page in tlie 
long, black record of the slave holders' rebellion. No docu- 
ment of any length, however, relating to that rebellion, should 
be permitted to find its way to posterity without containing 
at least some expression of the abhorrence which all enlight- 
ened and brave men must ever cherish for that most monstrous 
of all episodes in our imbittered civil war. 

At the time of that war the writer was a youth, in his 
teens. He has now reached the point in life whence the tide 
sets rapidly towards the open sea. He does not adniit that he 
ever had a vestige of malice or hatred in his heart witli respect 
to those who were engaged in the rebellion, and any asperity 
or ill temper, that may have been engendered in the progress 
of that strife, have long since disappeared. What he writes 
here he believes to be purely a matter of history. The con- 
clusions set down are the result of a prolonged investigation 
of the subject, and, as he has reason to hope, an unbiased, judi- 
cial consideration of all the facts and circumstances. 

1. The deprivations and indignities of Union prisoners 
in the earlier stage of the war were the result of the peculiar 
doctrines and convictions generally taught and believed in the 
.South, with reference to a Northern man caught there, with 
arms in his hands. According to the prevalent teaching and 
belief of that section he was not really a soldier, not a person 
belonging to a recognized, legitimate army, but a lawless 
raider, an armed " nigger stealer,"' and, therefore, an outlaw. 
Given the cause, the effect was a matter of course. The 
humanity and civilization of some would prevail over their 
dogmas, but not so of most. 

2. At a certain stage of the war it became the definite, 
clearly understood policy of certain prominent Southern 
leaders to increase and intensify the deprivations and indigni- 
ties of Union prisoners to a degree that was meant, if neces- 
sary, to be ruinous and fatal. The special motive for this 
was the fact that the National authorities had armed the 
negroes, and had refused to exchange prisoners unless negro 
soldiers were recognized as such, and exchanged the same as 
the others. The plan of the Southern leaders was, therefore, 
to make the lot of white prisoners in their hands so rigorous, 
absolutely so murderous, and on such a gigantic scale, as to 
force the National authorities to their terms. The enormities 
of Andersonville. Millen and Columbia were not incidental 



T\VENTY-SE\'ENTII INDIANA. 493 

or unavoidable — not tlic result of inattention on the part of 
those higher in authority and the abuse of power on the part 
of those lower in authority — but they were instances where 
prisoners of war, taken in honorable warfare, disarmed and 
helpless, but brave, devoted men, w^ere coolly and deliberately 
selected to be made the victims of suffering, even to the 
extent of a slow and horrible death, in order that their out- 
cries, or their pitiable, desperate condition, might compel their 
friends to do a thing wliich they could not be compelled to do 
by more honorable means. In other words, these rebel 
prisons of 1864, were instances on a huge scale, by Americans 
against Americans, of premeditated torture for ransom. 

3. It was in pursuance of this definite, clearly under- 
stood policy that men of harsh, cruel and brutal natures — con- 
scienceless, merciless and inhuman — were studiously sought 
out and designedly selected and given unrestricted control of 
prisons. In other words, the sole and only reason that such 
men received their appointments was because it was believed 
that they were capable of doing, and would do, exactly what 
they did do. 

4. The location of prisons, particularly that of Ander- 
sonville, was controlled by the same policy. The thought was 
to get the prison away, where the condition of the prisoners 
could be concealed, not so much from the National authorities 
and the outside world, as from the humane, enlightened and 
Christian people among themselves. 

5. There are many strong, if not conclusive, reasons for 
believing that one of the parties to this policy, if not the 
originator of it and chief factor in its execution, was the head 
of the Confederate government, so called, namely, Jefferson 
Davis. While there is no reason to believe, as it would be 
almost impossible for any one to believe, that the brave, 
capable men who wert; leading the armies at the front knew 
anything of the policy, there can be little doubt that Davis, 
and those immediately associated with him in the government, 
not only knew of it. but activelv aided and abetted in its 
adoption and execution. 

6. The plea of poverty or straightened circumstances 
cannot be accepted as palliating to any great extent, much 
less as excusing, most of the admitted facts. That prisoners 
should be penned in a shelterless held for a w hole year, in the 
midst of a heavily timbered country ; that thirty-five tiiousand 



494: HISTORY OF THE 

men should be forced to occupy a space of ground too small 
for ten thousand, in a region where land could be bought for 
a dollar an acre; that this seething mass of humanity should 
perish for the lack of sufficient pure water, in a locality 
where flowing springs and running brooks are abundant ; 
that innnan beings should be permitted to die like rotten 
sheep from scurvy, when, as one of their own number cited 
at the time, a few wagon loads of green corn, easilv obtain- 
able in the vicinity, would have prevented or stopped it — these 
admitted facts, under these undeniable conditions, cannot be 
satisfactorily accounted for, much less justified, on the plea 
that the Southern people were impoverished. This is lea\ing 
out of the question the matter of insufficient and unwhole- 
some food ; though it is notorious that Sherman's army found 
a condition of great plenty, as far as food supplies were con- 
cerned, in its march through the same State, at the close of the 
same season. 

7. The Southern people as a whole cannot be justly 
charged with this indelible stain upon the American name. It 
may be true that slavery had blunted their consciences and 
sensibilities, and that passions engendered in connection with 
the war were so inflamed, that they consented to, if they did not 
actively engage in, measures which, under other conditions, 
they would have abhorred, as all civilized people are supposed 
to abhor them. But it should not be forgotten or overlooked 
that it was a .Southern man. one in full sympathy with the 
rebellion, who furnished the fullest and most authentic expo- 
sition of the conditions at Andersonville, as they really 
existed. His protest, filed with the Confederate authorities, 
and preserved with the Confederate archives, constitutes a 
prominent part of the irrefragible testimony that those condi- 
ditions did really exist. It was also largely in response to the 
public sentiment awakened at the South by this protest, and 
by the publication of the facts in other ways, that an ex- 
change of prisoners was eventually agreed to. and the stigma 
thus terminated. 

The rain which poured down during the battle of New 
Hope Church continued at intervals through the night follow- 
ing. The earth was soaked with water and the darkness, in 
the shade of the thick foliage, rendered it almost necessary 
that we should lie down supperless, upon a dismal bed. Any 
soldier who remembers of spending the night under very 



r\\' H X TV - S K \' li \ Til I \ I ) 1 A N A . 



495 



uncomfortable and restless circumstances, as most who were 
there doubtless will, can have the satisfaction that lie was not 
the onlv one who had that experience. Here is wdiat General 
Sherman says concerninir himself that night: " I slept on 
the aground, without cover, alongside of a log. Got little 
sleep. Resolved at daylight to renew the battle, and to make 
a lodgement on the Dallas and Allatoona road if possible."' 

The loss of the Twenty seventh at New Hope Church 
was : Killed and mortally wounded, 8. Wounded but not 
mortally. 4^). Missing, 1. 




OxE OF THE TwEX 1 \ ->L\ ]:xiirs Recjimextal Fl.\gs. 

(Presented to Co. K l)y people of Jasper and earned as Reii^iniental Flag 
at Antietani. .Ml the men are Co. K men. Recent picture.) 

Al)Ove plate and those of Capt. Welhnan and >hij. Mehrint;^er kindly 
loaned from Wilson's Historv of Dubois Co. 



CHAPTER XXXIl. 



A UN1Q.UE CAMPAIGN. 

Some difficulty has been experienced in deciding upon a 
name for this chapter. For a while it was proposed to call it 
" the battle of a hundred days." Considering some of the 
things referred to in it that name would not have been out of 
place, though slightly misleading, considering the time actu- 
ally covered by the chapter. 

The battle of New Hope Church was the beginning of the 
the long series of battles and skirmishes, the incessant picket- 
firing and cannonading, the oft-repeated maneuvres for new 
positions and the successive flank movements, by which the 
enemy was compelled to abandon the mountain fastnesses 
north of the Chattahoochee river, about the 10th of July. In 
fact, substantially the same methods were pursued and the 
same experiences were continued from the initiatory move- 
ments in front of Rocky Face Ridge, May 5, until Atlanta 
was ours, September 2d. Scarcely an hour passed during 
that period, day or night, that any soldier of Sherman's army 
did not hear the boom of cannon, if he was not in close 
proximity to the sharp crack of muskets. For almost exactly 
four months very few days went by with anyone, and not 
many consecutive hours, without hearing the swish of a shell 
or the zip of a bullet. Those wb-o kept a careful account affirm 
that the Twenty-seventh was under fire one hundred and 
eleven of these one hundred and twenty days. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Fesler, in his official report, gives 
more than a hint of what befell the regiment from this time 
forward, aside from the regular battles". He says, " From 
May 25th to July 20, the losses in the Twenty-seventh were 
from five to fifteen a w'eek, in killed and wounded." After 
reporting the battle of Peach Tree Creek, which occurred on 
July 20th, he continues : " The 22d of July 1 advanced, with 
the brigade within two and one-half miles of Atlanta, and was 
ordered into position near the left of the railroad, and was 
under fire of the enemy's pickets or sharpshooters until the 
24th of August." 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 4V)7 

The physical labor and exposure of this period, particu- 
larly the first eighty days of it, were prodigious. As near as^ 
can be computed at this date close to, if not exactly, twenty- 
five times the Twenty-seventh constructed regular systems of 
breastworks, or parapets, within the eighty days. Most other 
regiments, of course, did substantially the same. Often this 
was done in the intense heat of that semi-tropical summer. It 
was always done in great haste, under the extreme pressure of 
an impending attack, several times actually under fire. 

As it rained during the battle of New Hope Church, as 
well as the day before and the night following, so it did 
almost every day for the next fifteen or twenty days succeed- 
ing. And these were rains! With little, if any warning,^ 
history seemed to be repeating itself. "The windows of 
heaven were opened and the floods descended." Neither was- 
there any bow of promise in sight, witnessing that another 
deluge was not at hand. These heavy rains not only caught 
us repeatedly without the least shelter, but they came, again 
and again, while we were crouching in narrow clay trenches 
or rifle pits, which the least water speedily transformed into 
hog wallows ; or they drenched us to the skin while we 
were lying flat on our stomachs, in the effort to screen our- 
selves from well-aimed bullets. Though the days were always 
warm and sunshine usually followed the rain, it was true here, 
as it had been in Virginia, our clothes being wet, a cold night 
frequently ensued. 

Yet, strange as it may appear, these were days of good 
cheer among the soldiers, often days of great joy and delight. 
Everybody laughed and was as merry, played as many pranks 
and had as much fun, as was commonly true in the same 
length of time under other conditions. Men uniformly went 
to their tasks and bore all of their hardships cheerfully, often 
joyfullv, and not infrequently they did hard, disagreeable and 
even desperate things, with veritable shoutings of glory. 

General Sherman's peculiar relation to his soldiers, as well 
as the unexampled success attending his operations, had 
everything to do in bringing about these results. It was here 
that he blazed out, full orbed, into the one ideal commander 
of a volunteer army. In the wonderful genius he displayed 
in grasping peculiar situations, and in his marvelous adapta- 
tion of means to ends, he will, in many respects, stand forever 

without a rival. 
32 



498 IIISTOKV OF THK 

Throughout this entire campaign Sherman was constantly 
with and among iiis men. There was no telling when he might 
appear in the midst of any regiment, or ride up to any picket 
post. Without being the least patroni/.mg. or obsequious, 
above all, without lacking anything in dignity, his manner 
was wlioUv free from airs of superiority or haughtiness. 
l{ he desired information he questioned the one nearest to him, 
or the one who, owing to the position he occupied at the time, 
seemed most likely to know, regardless of rank. If. for any 
reason he stopped for awhile, as he often did, and a circle of 
men gathered around him to listen to what he was saying, 
even venturing to ask him questions (they were always eager 
to do both), it did not seem to annoy him at all. His replies 
to them were always courteous and usually candid, though 
brief. He seemed uniformly to treat all of his soldiers, regard- 
less of rank, as if he considered them full partners with him- 
self in the enterprise, equally interested in its success, and 
worthy of being trusted to almost any extent. 

It goes without sa3'ing, that General Sherman's soldiers 
fairly idolized Iiim. Tiiey called him " Uncle Billy," and that 
meant e\erything. It meant the extreme of admiration, devo- 
tion and obedience. Sherman's army really reached the point 
where it trusted him always and blamed him never. To this 
there were no exceptions. None remained to weaken the rest. 
With one mind and one heart, all were ready and anxious to 
undertake whatever he ordered. In this we, who had been in 
the .Vrmy of the Potomac, were not in any respect behind 
those who had served under him from the beginning. Our 
confidence in commanders liad been sorely tried, but we dropped 
into this so naturally that we could give no date to the expe- 
rience. 

Sherman's example had its influence, also, upon his sub- 
ordinates. Some of them may not have needed it. He him- 
self says of General Thomas. " Between Thomas and his men 
there existed a most kindly relation. He frequently talked 
with them in a most familiar way.'' This was certainly more 
true at this time of all high in authority than it had ever been 
before. 

This campaign, of all others, was a time to see generals of 
high rank. A famous man, and even several famous men, 
was an every day sight. Four or Ave, often more, of the men 
whose names are now historic, anv one of whom if still alive 



T W E NT V-S K V E N Tl I I N I> I A X A . 



409 



would excite universal interest by a visit to anv of our cities, 
could be seen almost daily, halted temporarily at some cross- 
roads, or conferring together under a clump of trees. Their 
headciuarters, when they had anv, were always located among 
their men, near the front. They knew how their men fared 
and their men knew that they fared very little better than 
themselves. 

History does not record another instance, probably, where 
soldiers of all ranks were thrown as much upon their own in- 
dividual responsibilitv, and were allowed as much latitude for 





SuKf;. John II. Alkxa-ndi-: 



CaPT. J as. SrKlMIENS, Co. E. 



incli\idu:il action, as during this campaign, unless it was in 
the subsequent career of the same armv, under the same gen- 
erals. There was a relaxation, if not a suspension, of much 
of the conventional military restraint to an extent that we of 
the I'wentv -seventh had ne\er experienced before. Camp 
guards were unknown. Roll calls were few and fur between. 
Restrictive orders were not promulgated morning, noon and 
night. Xo sleep was lost by anyone, lest a chicken, goose or 
pig might be killed. The hateful, senseless knapsack was 
given a permanent leave of absence. If an officer or soldier 



500 HISTORY OK THE 

fancied a hat more than a cap, he might wear one, and little 
attention was paid to color or shape. It seemed to be taken 
for granted in all quarters that all connected with the expedi- 
tion were not only patriotic and well-meaning, but capable 
and trustworthy, and could be relied upon to do their duty. 
Why is it that the conventional military man, or so-called 
" soldier" of the academy, and of the militia, never can learn 
this? 

A picture of a Twenty-seventh soldier at this time would 
show him to be lean and weather-beaten ; not an ounce of sur- 
plus flesh upon him, and his skin as brown as a bun. His 
clot'es would be soiled, and his hair and beard might be long 
and probably unkempt. If an enlisted man and on the march, 
the only worldly effects visible, aside from the clothes on his 
back and his ever-ready musket and its belongings, would be 
a small roll of stuff hanging upon the left shoulder and 
crossing over to the right hip. That roll would contain, at 
most, one rubber poncho, one woolen blanket, one piece of 
shelter tent, and, possibly, an extra shirt and pair of socks. 
It often contained nothing but the rubber poncho and piece of 
tent. Dangling somewhere would be the little tin pail and 
frying pan. Often a light ax, or hatchet, was suspended to 
the belt, carried in turn by different members of the same 
company, or mess. Impaled upon a bayonet, or carried in the 
hand, a chicken or other fowl, or a piece of fresh meat, too 
large to find a place in the haversack, was not an infrequent 
sight, when the order to move had come suddenly and the 
march did not promise to be a long one. 

As a rule, each soldier received his own rations here, 
and cooked and ate them in such ways, and largely at such 
times, as seemed to him best. For cooking, the only uten- 
sils known were the aforesaid pail and frying-pan, and the 
ramrod, or a wooden stick of similar proportions. These last 
were used to hold the pail over the fire, and to broil the meat. 
Held thus in a hot flame, whatever was in the pail was soon 
cooked, and a piece of salt pork or fresh meat was soon 
ready for the palate of the hungry man. 

The first effect of the heat upon the salt pork — "sow 
belly " — when held in a hot fire, was to bring out the salt and 
crystalize it upon the surface. This was washed off, a time 
or two, with water poured from the canteen, the pork being 
held in the fire again between each washing. In case of fresh 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 501 

meat tiie salt had to be added, of course, instead of being 
washed off. 

When the meal was ready the soldier sat complacently 
down upon the ground, tailor-fashion, with his victuals ar- 
ranged conveniently around him. A cracker served as a plate 
for his meat, which was laid upon a stone, chip, piece of 
bark, or clean spot of ground. When none of these were in 
sight, the toe of his shoe answered just as well. Some people 
might not see much comfort — not to say luxury — in such 
primitive and somewhat rude conditions, but this much can 
be said of them, in the instance referred to : The food invari- 
bly tasted good, and the soldier, veteran that he was, wasted 
little time or thought in considering the matter in any other 
light. It is needless to add, that any true picture of a Twenty- 
seventh soldier and his surroundings on the Atlanta campaign 
would have many features in common with a picture of him 
on any other campaign, particularly after the first few months 
of our service. 

This was soldiering under " Uncle Billy" Sherman. Is 
it any wonder that the army was at its best? Victory was in 
the air. Atlanta was sure to be ours. Secession was doomed. 
There might be temporary reverses, the best of plans were 
liable to miscarry sometimes. But ultimate triumph — glorious 
and complete — was no longer a question. Hallelujah ! 

To say these things here may appear like a digression 
from the narrative; but to say them somewhere has seemed to 
be necessary to a proper understanding of it. Indeed, it may 
be a part of the narrative itself. 

Any attempted description, in consecutive order, of the 
daily movements of the Twenty-seventh during a considerable 
part of this period, especially any attempt to name or describe 
many of its particular locations, with a view to future identi- 
fication, would be of doubtful propriety. It seems hardly 
probable that the numerous separate points, in the extended 
region between Dallas and Kenesaw Mountain, will ever 
receive the attention bestowed upon other places rendered 
conspicuous by the war, some of them far less deserving of it. 
The scope of country here was too large. 

Soon after the battle of New Hope Church Sherman 
began gradually extending his line to the left and drawing it 
in correspondingly on the right. In these movements many 
troops passed in rear of our position, largely at night. We 



502 iiisTonv OK thp: 

remained almost stationary for live days. When our bivouac 
was shifted, as it was a time or two, it was not far. The 
second day after the battle the regiment moved a short dis- 
tance, across tlie road, with the view of getting into a more 
sheltered position. We had barely stacked arms when one of 
our men was killed by a stray bullet. Several others were hit 
during the day. General Williams had a similar experience 
with his headquarters. He had re-located them, in what 
seemed to him a safer place, and had opened out his map for 
a quiet season of study, when he was hit by a glancing ball. 
The wound was not serious, and only caused old '' Pap " to 
express his sentiments in characteri>tic language. But he did 
not move again. 

Nights and Sunda3-s were favorite times with the enemy 
for picket firing and attacks on our advanced positions, in 
which the artillery on both sides commonly took a hand. No 
matter how quiet it was at other times, we came to be expectant 
and watchful at these periods. Night attacks, after opening 
at one point, often extended until a long line had participated. 
Frequently one would begin far away, to the right or left, and, 
like a thunder shower, would approach nearer and nearer, 
with increasing clatter and roar. Finally it would reach our 
front and, after raging with greater or less intensity for 
awhile, would pass on, to die away at length in the opposite 
direction. This always awakened the whole armv and most 
of it would be under arms. 

After President Lincoln's order, early in the war, direct- 
ing that special activities should not be planned for Sunday, 
and that when, without detriment to the service, they could be 
postponed to another day, it should be done, there were at 
least some signs observable on our side of respect for the day. 
But on the other side the reverse seemed to be true. If the 
enemy was inactive all the balance of the week, he was not so 
on Sunday. 

One of the days, when the lines were in close contact, in 
the memorable thickets around New Hope Church, was the 
Lord's day. A large number from the brigade assembled at a 
point slightly to the rear, and the chaplain of the One Hun- 
dred and Seventh New York conducted Divine service. 
Meanwhile muskets were not only cracking vigorously on the 
picket line, but the ping and zip of rifle balls united their 
music with that of the hvmns and the doxologv. The service, 



TWKNTV-SE\E\TH INDIANA. 'yQi', 

however, was maintained re<^ularly to the end, with no dimin- 
ution either in attendance or interest. It is doubtful whether 
this instance lias many authentic parallels in iiistory. 

General Sherman gives a vivid word-picture of the situa- 
tion in his army during the closing days of May. They will 
portray the experiences of the Twenty-seventh as really as if 
written for them alone. He says, " Meantime Thomas and 
Scholield were completing their deployments, gradually over- 
lapping Johnston on his right, and thus extending our left 
nearer and nearer to the railroad, the nearest point of which 
was Acworth, about eight miles distant. All this time a con- 
tinual battle was in progress by strong skirmish-lines, taking 
advantage of every species of cover, and both parties fortify- 
ing each night by rifle-trenches, with head-logs, many of 
which grew to be as formidable as tirst-class works of defense."' 

By the first of June the enemy had let go entirely of the 
region about Allatoona, and soon after had fallen back to a 
line in which Kenesaw, Pine and Lost Mountains were the 
dominating features. With respect to this, General .Sher- 
man adds, " With the drawn battle of New Hope Church and 
our occupation of the natural fortress of Allatoona, terminated 
the month of May and the first stage of the campaign."" 

Following each retrograde movement of the enemv. we 
made a corresponding advance. On June 1st, we moved to 
our left three or four miles. The next day we moved twice, 
both times directly towards the enemy, and both times we 
entrenched. From this on, for several days, three things 
transpired every day, with commendable precision. Two of 
them never failed. One of these was cannonading and picket 
firing on our immediate front, and the other was a deluge of 
rain. The third thing, which seldom failed any da}', was a 
short move to the front or flank. If it was to the front, it 
meant hot work for the picket line, and a system of entrench- 
ments when a halt was called. Several times there was a sec- 
ond advance, and a second system of entrenchments, tlie 
same day. 

The repeated heavy rains at this time rendered the roads, 
which before had been a disgrace to any country, next to 
impassable. For a few days rations could not be brought out 
from the railroad in sufficient quantities. At a critical period, 
when supplies were getting very scarce, the Twenty-seventh 



5()i HISTORY OF THE 

was fortunate enough to forage a fair sized beef, which did 
much towards tiding us over. 

On June 7th and 8th, we were holding a line along a 
creek in front of Lost Mountain. There was a short interval 
during w'hich the rain ceased and the weather was really fine. 
A magical change was at once observed in the increased 
cheerfulness and exhuberance of everybody. Our brigade 
band came up to the breastworks and played several pieces, 
among them, " Johnny Fill Up the Bowl " and " Home, Sweet 
Home." This, of course, was done as much for the benefit 
of the rebels as our own. And it did not seem to be lost upon 
them. Immediately following this serenade their pickets 
proposed a short truce, which was heartily approved by our boys 
oc upying the outposts. Besides some friendly intercourse, 
under proper restraints and safeguards, the usual exchange of 
newspapers and bartering of coffee for tobacco were indulged 
in. In a diary in which this incident of the friendly relations 
between the pickets is assigned to June 8th, the record for 
June 9th is, '■'■ Rebel pickets driven one inile.^^ This was char- 
acteristic of the times. This was war. 

Another diary, kept by one who was liable to be accurate 
in such matters, gives the strength of the different regiments 
of the Second Brigade at this time as follows : One Hun- 
dred and Seventh New York, 418; One Hundred and Fiftieth 
New York, 480; Thirteenth New Jersey, 318; Third Wis- 
consin, 355 ; Second Massachusetts, 120, and the Twenty- 
seventh, Indiana, 247. 

The wet weather had not ceased permanently. It 
returned again, if possible, with increased violence. Rain 
fell on the 9th. So it did on the 11th. On the 12th it rained 
hard all day. On the 13th it rained all day and all night. 

On the 14th, a shot from a Union cannon killed General 
I'olk of the rebel army. He was standing at the time on the 
crest of Fine Mountain, with Generals Johnston, Hardee aiid 
others, taking observations of the Union positions. A South- 
ern history says he was hit in the breast by an unexploded 
shell. At least a dozen batteries, and more than a hundred 
gunners, claim the distinction of firing the fatal shot. 
Infantry regiments innumerable claim it was fired by the bat- 
tery they were supporting, and probably half the soldiers in 
Sherman's army claim they saw it fired. The latter claim 
would be hard to disprove, as the shot w^as fired in open day 



TWENTV-SEVKN TH INDIANA. 505 

light and the mountain was visible to a large part of the 
army. The fact, as Sherman states it, is that this shot was 
one of a hundred or more, fired by several batteries in volleys. 
So it would be impossible, or almost so, to tell by what bat- 
tery the shot was fired, much less who sighted the gun. Gen- 
eral Polk had been or was a bishop in the Protestant Episcopal 
church. 

Inasmucii as he had been originally educated for a soldier, 
it can be understood the more readily why he might, under 
some circumstances, lay aside, temporarily, the exalted work 
of the Christian ministry to become a commander in an army. 
That he could so far depart from the teachings of the Holy 
Bible, which he had solemnly avowed to be his sole and only 
guide, and so far belie the spirit of the Man of Nazareth, 
whose he was and whom he served, as to unsheath his sword 
in a rebellion against the Christian republic of the United 
States, begun solely for the mantenance and extension of 
human slavery, horrified and outlawed as it was in every civil- 
ized corner of the globe, except in the Southern states, is a 
conspicious example of the blindness to which even men of 
God are sometimes given over. His Master's words were ver- 
ified in his case : " He that taketh the sword shall perish 
with the sword." 

Adjutant Bryant i-ecounts a characteristic incident of 
General Sherman, which occurred about this time. He says, 
"The General happened to be near the head of the regiment. 
Hearing a sharp firing in a ravine some half a mile distant, he 
desired to know what it was. A mounted lieutenant of some 
other command happened to be riding along the road near by, 
Sherman, well covered in his water-proofs, so as to be hardly 
recognizable, called to the officer to ride down to where the 
firing was, tind out what troops of ours were in there, and 
report to him. The lieutenant, not liking such exposure, said : 
' Excuse me, sir. I am a non-combatant' (with the accent on 
the bat). ' A what, sir, a what, sir. f"' growled Sherman, 'a 
non-combatant? I did not know I had such a thing in my 
army. What is your name, sir?' By this time the quarter- 
master saw whom he was talking to and, with apologies, hur- 
ried off to get the information desired.'" 

Another incident equally characteristic, is current at this 
date, and seems likewise to be authentic. The General was 
riding along side of a supplv train, which was trying to make 



500 HISTORV OF THE 

headway over the vile roads of the period. Coining to a team 
that was stalled and the driver whipping and swearing shame- 
fully, Sherman said, "Stop that, stop that, sir!"' Looking 
up the dri\er saw who it was, but at the same time saw^ that 
the general had nothing visible about him to indicate his rank. 
With the quick intuition of a soldier, a way out of his dilenmia 
flashed into his mind. Assuming an air of ofl'entled dignity, 
he said, " Wiio the blank are you .^" \\'ithout thinking but 
what the man was sincere, the General told him who he was. 
Apparantly more offended than ever, the driver replied, "O, 
you go to blank ! Every old duffer who comes along, wearing 
a greasv blouse and a slouch hat, can't play himself off to me 
as General Sherman.'' The General saw the point, and with 
the suspicion of a smile rode on. 

No more accurate or expressive description of life with us 
for the few days following can be given than to quote, word 
for word, a diarv in the writer's possession, written at the 
time, by a soldier in the Twenty-seventh. "June 15th, ad- 
vanced two miles. Heavy skirmishing all the way. Entrenched. 
June 16th, sharp-shooters troublesome. Heavy artillery duel. 
Shells riddled the timber among us. June 17th, rebels fell 
back early. We advanced two miles. Entrenched twice. 
Hooker and Sherman came around in the evening. June 18th. 
Rained last night and continued all day. Heavy skirmishing 
all day. Heaviest kind of cannonading. Ration of whisky. 
Some rather merry. June 10th, advanced two miles. Enemy 
abandoned two lines of works. Rain, rain. June 20th. moved 
two miles to the right. Lay till 4 P. M., then advanced three 
miles, finding no enemy." 

By skillful maneuvers the enemy was thus forced out of 
one position after another. A long line of battle is never 
straight, but necessarily curves and zigzags about, to conform 
to the lay of the land. This often enables an antagonist, by 
advancing part of his force to a certain point, to fire into the 
jlank or even into the rear of this crooked line, in some of its 
turns and angles. In that event a change is almost certainly 
necessitated. When the change is made it may be only to find 
that the new position is as faulty and untenable as the old, or 
is speedily rendered so by another move of the foe. 

In this way the rebels were forced to abandon, first Lost 
Mountain and then Pine Mountain, as well as the regions ad- 
jacent. Then, though holding on to Kenesaw, thev had to 



rWENTVSKVENril INDIANA. 5< )7 

swing back and extend their left, little by little, until linallv 
their line, after passing from east to west along the northern 
slopes of Kenesavv, turned sharply south at its western ex- 
tremity and extended in that direction two or three miles. 

In the closing sentences from the diary (|uoted above, 
the movements are mentioned by which the Twenty-seventh, 
along with the balance of the Twentieth Corps, came to 
occupy a position near the southern extremity of the Union 
line, as it confronted that of the enemy. This position was 
along the Powder Springs and Marietta road, west of the 
latter town. 

Here, on the 22d of June, was fought the Battle of Kolbs 
farm. There was not enough of this engagement to go around, 
therefore the Twenty-seventh, though present and witness- 
ing much of it, took but little part. It was another instance 
where the rebel General Hood tried the ''Jackson tactics " 
unsuccessfully. It seems that " Pap "' Williams was the hrst 
to become apprised of Hood's plans. In his report he says : 

"About 8 P. M., hearing there were credible rumors of an attack, I 
reported in person to the major-general commanding the corps, at Kolb's 
house, and received orders to deploy my division in one line and throw 
up breastworks without delay. The information seemed reliable that the 
whole of Hood's corps was advancing to attack us. I had barely reached 
the left of my line (conveying the orders in person to each brigade com- 
mander, as I returned from the corps headquarters), before the peculiar 
yell of the rebel mass was heard as they emerged from the woods and 
dashed forward toward our line." 

General Ruger gives a very clear and accurate account of 
the engagement, as it relates to his brigade. He says : 

" In accordance with orders I placed the brigade in position in one 
line formation, the right resting near the Marietta road, and connecting 
with General Hascall's division of the Twenty-third Corps, which mean- 
time had come up by the Marietta road. * * ^ * In accordance 
with orders such breast-works were made as could be constructed by 
rails and other material within reach. In front of the left two regiments 
of the brigade (the Thirteenth New Jersey Volunteers and One Hundred 
and Fiftieth New York Volunteers) the ground was open about 300 yards 
to the front. The First Brigade prolonged the line to the left, along the 
crest of the ridge. * * * Next on the left of the brigade, and between 
the First and Second Brigades, was Battery M, First New York Artil- 
lery, light r2-pounders. \'ery soon after coming into position, the attack 
of the enemy was made by Hood's corps. His columns, in approaching, 
were sul)ject to a fire from batteries in commanding positions, and were 
much disorganized. In the immediate front of the brigade and of the 
First Brigade the enemy emerged from the cover of the woods in the 



508 



HISTOHV OI-" THE 



open ground, and was immediately received by a fire of canister from 
Captain Woodbury's battery. The Thirteenth New Jersey V'olunteers 
and One Hundred and Fiftieth New York Volunteers, in whose front the 
ground was open, giving a good view of the enemy, now opened fire. 
The first line of the enemy was followed closely by his second, and that 
by his third. The second soon closed up on his first line, which had 
halted, and was even disordered before receiving the musketry fire. In 
<i short time all three lines were repulsed and driven back in a confused 
mass, with heavy loss, the third line advancing but a short distance from 
the shelter of the woods. The enemy making the attack was Steven- 
son's division of Hood's corps." 




TiiK Chakgk ()\ei{ TiiK Bkid(;i-:. 



General Ruij^er does not mention the fact that a large 
number of the enemy took refuge along the creek in the 
ravine between the lines, fearing to ascend the slope back of 
it, and were handled very roughly later on. They seemed to 
be crowded into that depression in almost a compact mass. 
They were partly screened from the fire of our line directly 
in front of them, but our men farther to the right cotild reach 
them with a damaging flank lire, while some of our batteries 
had an enfilading range upon them that was terrible. 



t\venty-sevp:nth Indiana. 5U*.> 

Tlie coinni:inder of one of these batteries, who could not 
from his position see the eflfect of his fire, or even tell when 
he had the range, rode up to the Twenty-seventh and asked 
the men to cheer when his shots seemed to be doing execution. 
After a few trials he succeeded in dropping his missils, and 
exploding them, squarely in the midst of the cowering, de- 
fenseless enemy. The men of the regiment cheered, and then 
followed the most galling, merciless shelling of men, corralled 
where they could neither defend themselves or escape, that it 
ever fell to our lot to witness. 

From first to last, the enemy was severely punished in 
this battle. As appears in General Ruger's report, the part 
of the line held by our regiment was not attacked directly. 
We had little to do but stand to our arms and witness the 
slaughter. Bryant tersely says : " It was an episode of 
most murderous war." He also quotes the following from a 
correspondent of the New York Herald : 

"Along the little stream ran a rail fence. The rebels had crowded 
behind this for protection, but were literally mowed down. The torn, 
bloody knapsacks, haversacks and frequent pools of blood, were ghastly 
evidences of how they suffered. The stream was choked up with 
bodies and discolored with blood. In the ravine and around the house, 
where they had crowded for shelter, their bodies lay piled on one 
another." 

Newspaper statements are often exaggerated, but this 
reference to " pools of blood," and the water in the little 
stream being " discolored " by it, unusual as it is, even in war, 
is confirmed as being literally true, by conservative eye-wit- 
nesses in the Twenty-seventh. DifTerent ones have affirmed 
that they had always supposed such language to be figurative 
only, until they had passed over this fatal field. They here 
saw not pools of human blood only, but also places where it 
had run in streams over the ground for considerable dis- 
tances. And the stagnant water in the brook was plainly 
affected by it, in many places. 

Following the battle of Kolb's Farm, skirmishing con- 
tinued daily, as also the daily crowding upon the enemy's 
position, and the constant building and strengthening of 
breastworks. 

The 27th of June was the day of the assault upon the 
enemy's position on the slopes of Kenesaw. This is known as 
the Battle of Kenesaw Mountain. Fortunately for us. our 



510 HISTOHV OK THE 

division was not of the number chosen to make the assault. 
Our side suffered a decided repulse. Sherman frankly admits 
that the assault failed, and almost admits that he himself had 
little hope of its success. He justifies it, however, by alleg- 
ing that, if it had succeeded, it would have greatly shortened 
operations for the possession of Atlanta, and that he was 
almost forced to make it as a means of discipline to his army. 
With respect to the latter consideration, he says, in substance, 
that he had been mand'uvering the enemv out of positions, 
and flanking around strongholds so much that he thought 
there was danger of the men allowing all of their stand-up, 
8(|uare-toed fighting qualities to slip away from them. If 
Sherman, or any one else, had any suspicion that this quality 
was already gone from the men, his mind must have been 
quickly disabused by what he witnessed in this assault. No 
soldiers were ever more dauntless or heroic. It was another 
case of " Into the mouth of hell."" 

In the massing of troops preparatory to the assault, some 
changes were made in our line, and, had it been successful, 
we were prepared to take full advantage of it. That was all 
we were called upon to do. Of course we heard much, for 
there was much to hear — a rumble and roar of cannon and a 
rattle and din of musketry, such as invariablv accompanied a 
fierce battle. The weather was extremely hot. 

After the battle of Kenesaw Mountain there was a truce 
for some hours along the whole line, that the dead might be 
hunted up and buried, and the wounded caied for. During 
this truce all sounds of strife ceased. Many from both armies 
mingled freely together in friendly conversation. With the 
men' on both sides there was a constant curiosity to know 
more about the other fellows. This curiosity, if not gratified, 
grew with each passing day. The air of myster}- which an 
armv always presents to its adversary was probably the cause 
of this. The men of each army know that the other army 
exists, perhaps that it is in the near vicinity, and that it is a 
tremendous engine of death, requiring the utmost watchful- 
ness. But beyond these facts they know very little. Except 
in battle, thev really see next to nothing of each other. A 
pile of fresh dirt on a distant hillside, the glint from a few 
gun barrels among the trees, now and then a form gliding 
across an opening, these are all they ever see. Is it any won- 
der that thev are desperately anxious to see and know more? 



TWKXT^-SKVENTII INDIANA. 511 

Moreover, the conditions were strangely anoniolous in 
our war. The men of both armies had belonged in the same 
country. Thousands who were now on opposite sides had 
been personal ac(]uaintances and friends before the strife 
began. We had quite a number of men in the Twenty- 
seventh wiio had been born and brought up in the .South. 
They knew as many soldiers in regiments from North Caro- 
lina, Virginia or Kentucky as they did in their own. These 
men wanted to see and hear from friends. We all wanted to 
compare notes with "Johnny Reb," learn something of his 
way of doing things, and hear from his own lips how he 
liked it, as far as he had gone. 

On July 1st, the non- veterans of the Third Wisconsin 
started home, having served out the three years of their enlist- 
ment. They had been excused from detail for some days. 
Many and sincere were the expressions of regret at parting, 
appreciation of, and respect for, duty nobly done and good 
wishes for the future. The tics that bound those who stood 
by each other during three years of such service as we had 
seen together were very strong. 

On Sunday, July 8d, we were awakened at 1:00 a. m. 
While our thoughts were busy recalling where we had been 
one year before that morning, and speculating as to what 
was in store for us this dav, the rumor was confirmed that 
the rebel army had, at last, abandoned its strong position 
about Keuesaw. To follow it was our next duty. The sun 
was barely showing signs of rising when we moved out. The 
Twenty-seventh was assigned the advance, with Company F 
on the skirmish line. In this order we moved up to and 
passed through the city of Marietta. It looked to be rather a 
pretty place, but was largely forsaken by its inhabitants. 

Our army took a large number of prisoners to-day. They 
were mostly stragglers, and more or less of them were doubt- 
less really deserters. In this connection a very unusual event 
transpired. George Gore, of Company D, unaided by any 
one, brought in five live prisoners. lie carried their muskets, 
while they marched before him and carried their own equip- 
ments. During a halt of the regiment, he went to a farm- 
house, some distance away, on the lookout for something 
better than army rations with which to refresh the inner man. 
As he approached the place he saw a row of muskets leaning 
against the outside of the dwelling. Not suspecting but that 



512 HISTORY OF THE 

they belonged to a party of Union soldiers, he went on, only 
to find five Confederates sitting at the table inside, eating their 
dinner. It was too late to retreat and Gore thought if any- 
body had to surrender he would rather it would be the other 
fellows. So, drawing his gun upon them, he ordered them to 
come out and precede him to camp. It was a clear and well- 
authenticated case of the five-to-one theory upon which the 
.South began the war, only it was reversed. The men did not 
avow themselves to be deserters, though they could not have 
been very determined or resolute in their loyalty to their 
cause. 

If there was ever a time when we could meet the enemy 
five to one, though we were never foolish enough to have such 
a thought, it was to-day. Our spirits were high. The enemy 
had again shown us his back, and under such circumstances as 
to encourage us greatly. We reasoned that, with all the time 
which had elapsed, in which to recruit and concentrate its 
arm\, if the rebellion could not hold such positions as the 
mountainous regions about Alatoona and Kenesaw afforded, 
there could be little doubt that it was now nearing the last 
ditch. 

We met the first serious resistance of the day some five 
miles beyond Marietta. Forming line of battle, we soon found 
that another system of entrenchments confronted us. 

This brings up a feature ot the war not mentioned before, 
in this narrative. The rebel commander here had a force of 
several thousand negroes, as every rebel commander had, 
which, under the direction of competent engineers, put in 
their whole time constructing defences. Before one position 
was abandoned, another was prepared. Not only so, but, as 
in this case, intermediate defences were constructed, to delay 
the pursuit and prevent our army from gaining any advantage 
while theirs was in motion. No need to say that this was an 
immense help. It was one of the ways, therefore, that the 
negro question entered into the practical conduct of tht- war. 
At the start many on our side, some of them sturdy defenders 
of the Union, contended that our army, in putting down the 
rebellion, should not molest slavery in any way. It 
must maintain perfect neutrality with respect to that institu- 
tion. 

But it soon became manifest to all reasonable people that 
such a course was impracticable, as well as suicidal. The insti- 



T\VENTY-SK\'ENTn INDIANA. 513 

tution of slavery was openly used to help the rebellion. The 
slaves not only took care of the women and children at home 
while their masters were in the army fighting, and even raised 
a surplus to send to the army for its maintenance, but actually 
came and assisted the army itself. This gang of slaves 
increasecl the effective strength of the rebel army as much as 
if they had been mustered into it. Those engaged in the 
rebellion saw this clearly. Senator Hill, in his frenzied appeal 
to the people of Georgia, to rise against Shermen, on his 
march to the sea, said : " Every negro with his spade and 
axe can do the work of a soldier." This is why it became 
" a military necessity," as Lincoln expressed it, to free the 
slaves. As our army would burn a mill or foundry, or destroy 
a railroad, to prevent the eneni}- from using them against us, 
so it became imperative to strike at slavery. 

The glorious Fourth of July was ushered in, with us, this 
year, by our bands playing National airs. They began so 
early that these were the first sounds that greeted many of 
our ears, on awakening. How delightful and inspiring the 
sweet strains were, as they were borne to us on the calm, 
fresh morning air! No soldier of those old days has ever 
heard, what seems to him, such impressive, soul-stirring band 
music as he heard then. Usually in the hush of evening or 
sometimes in the early morning, as was the case now, before 
the confusion and excitement of the day had begun, our 
thorougly trained musicians, with their hearts in their work, 
rendered the numbers appropriate to those eventful times, 
better than they can ever be rendered for us again. 

The regular music, of another sort, also opened early, 
namely, cannonading and picket firing. During the day our 
division moved to the right, perhaps two miles. Our bivouac 
that night was in a dense thicket, with very strict orders to 
sleep with all of our accoutrements on, and within easy reach 
of our guns. 

Such urgent precautions against an attack favored a false 

alarm which, sure enough, came before morning. A lot of 

loose animals (some say mules and others beef cattle) got 

among the sleeping men. Upsetting a stack of muskets, two 

or three of them were discharged. These were followed by 

loud shrieks of pain and terror from those hit or trampled upon. 

Instantlv, p indemonium reigned. Men, partially awakened 

out of a deep sleep, went wild and were liable to do almo>t 
33 



514 HISTORY OF THE 

any foolish thing. The whole brigade, if not the whole divi- 
sion, seemed on the verge of a stampede. 

But an officer or two, blessed not only with cool heads 
and quick wits, but with stentorian voices, roared, " Steady, 
men! There's nothing the matter; steady I " As if by magic, 
all was quiet in a trice, and the men dropped down again and 
were asleep, almost as quickly as they had been roused up. It 
has been stated that, when morning came, no one could be 
found who would acknowledge that he was awake or knew 
anything of the occurrence. As no one had been recognized 
in the inky darkness, that was a slick way to evade all reproach. 
The episode was an almost exact reproduction of what hap- 
pened just after the battle of Cedar Mountain. 

On July 5, the eneinv was again conspicuous by his 
absence. We advanced over his abandoned bi east works. 
One, who claims to have kept a careful count, avers that this 
was the tenth regular system of defenses, not counting many 
isolated, or incomplete ones, since leaving Dalton. 

For a period of several days, just now, the weather was 
intensely hot. During most of the day the atmosphere 
had a furnace temperature. The rebels were pushed to within 
about two miles of the Chattahoochee river. Towards the last 
skirmishing was heavy. From the tree tops upon the elevated 
ground, where we finally halted, we could see the buildings in 
our long sought and earnestly coveted prize — Atlanta. Field 
glasses were in requisition, and many were the ragged, dirt- 
begrimed and vermin-infested soldiers, who, after so many 
days of wilderness-journey, climbed up to these Pisga heights 
and gazed long and wistfully, and not without faith, into this 
"Promised Land."' 

There was a move of uncertiiin length and direction on 
the Tth, and, at the end of it, the erection of a line of breast- 
works. The direction, in general, was towards the right. 
The heat remained torrid. Our position, when we halted, 
was on one of the main roads between Marietta and 
Atlanta. The day following we were greatly annoyed by the 
dust, raised by passing teams. A tree-top vision of Atlanta 
could also be had from this point. The view was brighter 
and faith was strengthened. 

Here we remained stationary for awhile, tliough other 
parts of the army were active. Schotield's and McPherson's 
armies passed up the river and crossed over. When the rebel 



TWEXTV-SEVENTII IXDIAXA. 515 

communder learned of this he evacuated the position in our 
front and withdrew behind the Chattahoochee and practically 
within the defenses of Atlanta. Our pickets were advanced to 
the river, but soon arranged a truce with the rebel out-posts 
on the opposite shore. For a day or two matters were more 
quiet and peaceful than they had been for many weeks. It 
really seemed odd without the everlasting pop, pop, on the 
picket line. Except for the occasional boom of cannon, far 
off to our left, we migiit liave fallen into a hopeless state of 
enervation. 

The time was improved here by a general cleaning up. 
It may sound barbaric, but it was reallv delightful to all that 
we again had it within our power to boil alive some of our 
most venomous and blood-thirsty enemies! vStern measures 
were imperative. To accomplish tliis, everv pot, kettle, or 
other vessel that would hold water and stand lire was in 
demand. As it was at vSandy Hook, Maryland, after the 
second Bull Run and Antietam campaigns, men stood picket 
and did other duty while most, if not all of their garments 
were boiling in suds, or hanging on limbs to dry. A sudden 
call to march would ha\e found whole battalions, if not 
brigades, in a stark condition of nativity. 

An interesting fact is related in connection with the lirst 
crossing of the Chattahoochee by our troops. .\s the advance 
swiftly pushed over, and dashed up the opposite bank, a rebel 
picket post was captured. One of the men had been writing 
home, and the unfinished letter, as well as the writer, was 
taken. The words he had been in the act of putting down 
contained strong assurances to his friends that he was not in 
any danger. They need not have anv uneasiness about him. 
The " Yanks" were raising disturbances in some quarters, but 
there was not the slightest probability of them disturbing his 
repose. Who, alas! in the army can forecast the future? 
Before the ink was dry on the paper, even before the thought 
could be fully expressed, both himself and his letter were in 
the hands ot his enemies. 

Another incident had its beginning here, which is more 
directly connected with this narrative. During our truce with 
the rebel pickets along the Chattahoochee, members of the 
Twenty-seventh became in a measure intimate with a lieuten- 
ant and a number of his men, belonging to the Tenth 
Georgia, Confederate, regiment. The privilege of bathing in 



516 inSTOKY OK THE 

the river was freely accorded to both sides, and there was 
quite a little interchange of courtesies, as well as coinniodities, 
between our boys and these Southern youths. Warm-hearted, 
full of fun, ready to give or take a joke, never harsh or ill-tem- 
pered in their language, in all, excepttheiruniforins, they seemed 
one with ourselves. But while our association with them 
was in progress, we received orders to march. The next day 
we crossed the Chattahoochee and, the third day after cross- 
ing, we took part in the battle of Peach Tree Creek. After 
it was over we found the names of the Georgia lieutenant, and 
several of his men, on the head boards marking the graves of 
those killed in front of our regiment. The thirty years and 
more which have gone over our heads since then, have not 
entirely removed the pain which we have always felt when 
recalling this episode of war. 

The rebel defenses immediately north of the Chattahoo- 
chee were the most elaborate of any we met with on this cam- 
paign. General Sherman says this " (cfc-d/e-J>o?i/ ,'' as he calls 
it, " proved one of the strongest pieces of field fortifications I 
ever saw.'" The system extended, in a semi-circle, from the 
river above the railroad bridge to the river below it. The 
total length was about five miles, and throughout the whole 
of it there was a formidable earthwork, with ditch, escarpment, 
embrasures, etc. In front was the customary abatis, while 
behind was a line of block houses, bomb-proof ammunition 
cellars, wells of water and all of the other provisions and 
safe-guards of a regular fort. To construct these must have 
required a stupendous outlay of labor. Yet all were turned 
in a day, and abandoned as useless. 

Among other things, we had regular inspection while on 
the Chattahoochee. — the iirst since leaving Tullahoma. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



PEACH TREE CRICEK. 

Our days of quiet, rest, cleaninj^-up and refitting ended 
on the li2th of June. That day about noon we started up the 
Chattahoochee to X'ining's Station, and crossed the ri\er on a 
pontoon bridge, at Paice's Ferry, a short distance above. 
Passing by troops of the Fourteenth Corps, we camped in a 
rough country, though in a fine oak woods, at eight P. M. 
We had for several days regaled ourselves on lucious black- 
berries To-night we gathered a rich harvest of huckleberries. 
Both of them reminded us of Indiana. 

On the 18th, we moved on towards Atlanta, and that night 
we entrenched. It was not safe now to put in much time 
anywhere without this precaution. On the 19th, we moved 
still farther to the front, camping on the bank of Peach Tree 
Cre k. The marches these two days had not been long. The 
weather had become more pleasant, — neither too warm nor 
too much rain. The nights were especially comfortable. 

On the morning of the 20th of July we advanced across 
Peach Tree Creek. We were now only four miles from Atlanta. 
The bluff on the northern side of Peach Tree at this point is 
perhaps thirty feet high, almost perpendicular, butting close 
up to the channel of the creek. On the southern side, there 
is quite a strip of marshy bottom land, and after passing this, 
the ascent to the higher ground beyond is gradual. There 
were positive indications, as we moved across the creek and 
up the opposite slope, that we had come about as far as we 
were to be permitted to come without vigorous opposition. 
There was brisk firing on the skirmish line and a rebel battery 
w^as dropping shells wherever it could in such a timbered 
region, endeavoring thus to hinder and delay our progress. 

From near the point where we crossed the creek, a narrow 
country road angled to the right, passing diagonally up the slopes 
and across the ravines on the south side, and uniting with a 
more prominent road, leading from Howell's Mills to Atlanta, 
about a half mile beyond. Williams' division was moving out 



518 II1ST01?Y OF THE 

on this country road, first mentioned. Geary's division, which 
had forced the passage of the creek the evening before, and 
Ward's division, which crossed after us, bore to the left, and 
were taking positions on the ridges and phiteaus out in that 
direction. All of the land in our front or near us was wooded, 
except some small patches around a cluster of vacant cabins, 
slightly in advance of where the Twenty-seventh halted. To 
our right, and a little behind us, was a division of the Four- 
teenth Corps. 

The time until after three P. M., was spent in crossing the 
troops over the creek and moving into position. The indica. 
tions at that time were that we were about ready for a farther 
advance. The firing in front was more rapid, indicating an 
advance of the skirmish line. vSome pieces of our division 
artillery were passing up the road, as if they might be needed 
ahead. Suddenly the musketry, off to our left, broke out into 
heavy and rapid volleys. The cheers and yells, which also 
reached us from that direction, plainly indicated that another 
battle was on. The enemy was making a sudden and vigorous 
attack. 

Until now we had not been in battle formation. We 
had only compacted our lines on the hillside, as if to make 
room in the rear for others. But under urgent orders we at 
once formed in order for defense, double-quick. The First 
Brigade took position on the right of the road, and the Third 
Brigade on the left. Our brigade (the Second) was sta- 
tioned in the rear, in support of the others, on ground just 
vacated by troops of the Fourteenth Corps. Their partially 
completed breastworks we worked like beavers to strengthen. 

Almost immediately our First and Third Brigades were 
furiously assailed. The rebels swept in the skirmish line with 
their line of battle. Both musketry and artillery opened in 
heavy volleys from the start. Very soon the wounded began 
to come back, and it was not long before we were expecting 
orders to advance to the assistance of the first line, or to see 
them withdraw to the rear of our position. As the battle 
raged it seemed to be heaviest on our left, where Ward's and 
Geary's divisions were. But our. First and Third Brigades 
were also firing volley after volley, without cessation. 

Among other riderless horses that we observed at length, 
running at large, was one that we all recognized as being Gen- 
eral Knipe's, the commander of the First Brigade. The report 



TWENTY-SEVEN'lll IXDI.WA. 519 

naturally passed along the line that General Knipe had been 
killed. Tiiis was soon disproved by his coming back himself. 
He was on foot. His horse had been so badly wounded that 
he considered it unsafe to ride it. He had therefore dismounted 
and turned it loose. His errand back was to secure one regi- 
ment to come to his assistance. The enemy, he said, was 
threatening his right flank, by passing down a ravine between 
his right regiment and the left of the Fourteenth Corps. , 

General Knipe was enquiring for General Williams; but 
General Hooker being present, while General Williams was not 
present. Hooker, after some parley, gave Knipe verbal orders 
to take the Twenty-seventh. To reach the desired position it 
was necessary for us to cross an open space of sixty or seventy- 
five yards, where the regiment would be exposed to a cross 
fire at close range. General Knipe and Colonel Colgrove 
therefore pointed out the place were the men were to form. 
It was along the remnant of a fence bordering a ravine. They 
were instructed to make a dash for the point indicated, with- 
out regard to order, and, once there, to open fire and hold the 
position at all hazards. At the word of command, the Twen- 
ty-seventh cleared the opening in eager precipitation, and 
were speedily taking part in the fray. 

The situation was the same as it usually was on both sides 
during the war. A former colonel of a Mississippi cavalry reg- 
iment related to -the writer after the war, that General Forrest, 
at a certain battle, said to him when he reported for orders, 
"It don't matter where you put your regiment in. Colonel, 
there's good fighting anywhere along the line." So it was here. 
The only diificulty was that there was not space enough as- 
signed to the Twenty-seventh for all the men to get into line. 
They did, therefore, as men sometimes do in forts, but what 
we never did at any other time : Those not able to get posi- 
tion in the front line loaded their muskets and handed them 
to those before them to fire. 

To the left there was open ground, but in front and to the 
right there was a jungle of trees and bushes. In the latter, 
the enemy could approach very near without being observed. 
The assault was very persistent. When compelled to fall back, 
the rebels would immediately reform and return to the attack, 
or others would return in their stead. It appeared to us that 
they would only retire into the thicket a short distance and 
then return again. In fact, we were often the victims of a 



520 



lIlsrOKV OF THE 



damaging nre of musketry when we could see no enemy- For 
this reason, orders were ev^entually given to continue firing 
into the dense woods, even after the enemy had retired and 
were not in sight. The men who loaded and fired their own 
muskets exclusively used over a hundred rounds of cartridges. 
Some used many more than that. The engagement continued 
until fairly dark, when the enemy withdrew finally. 

Our loss, though severe, was again less than we had been 
accustomed to. It was four killed and thirty-six wounded. 
Among the latter was Colonel Colgrove. An unexploded 
shell, which otherwise would have passed harmlesslv over, 
struck the limb of a tree and glanced downward. The colonel 
was at the time reclining on his side, in rear of the regiment. 
The shell struck under him, passing between his arm and 
body. Such was its terrific force that it lifted him up several 




'vCOL. CoLGKOVE's sword, Si kick BV CANNON BALL AT PeACH TrEE 

Creek. Presented by thf. Colonel to John Bresnahax, 

\\'ASH1N(!T()N, U. C. 



feet and whirled him over and over. It was strange that he 
was not killed, but he was luirt more seriouslv than the first 
examination indicated. Besides the injury to his arm, a con- 
tusion developed in his side, which, sloughing off, made a 
desperate wound. He finally recovered, though he never 
again commanded the old regiment. The sword the Colonel 
was wearing at the time he has since presented to Comrade 
Bresnahan, formerly of Company A, now residing in Wash- 
ington, D. C. It bears the marks of the tremendous force of 
the blow, being bent and twisted like a piece of tin or scrap- 
iron that has passed through a hot fire. 



TWEXTV-SEVKN'ni INDIANA. 521 

A party of former members of the Twenty-seventh, in- 
cluding the writer, visited the battlelield of Peach Tree Creek 
in September, 1895. After some difllculty, they found the 
exact spot where the regiment was engaged. The entrench- 
ments, dug the night after tlie battle, substantially where the 
line had been during its progress, served as the best guide to 
identification. The ground had not been improved, and the 
old parapet remained very clearly marked. The graves where 
we buried our dead comrades at the close of the battle were 
also distinctly visible, though apparently empty. The slabs 
of sandstone which we set up for headstones were still in 
pi. ice. We inferred that the bodies had been removed to the 
National Cemetery. 

Our location during the battle was about a fourtli of a mile 
east of the old Atlanta and IIo well's Mill road, and immedi- 
ately east of the first deep ravine in that direction. It was 
this ravine that was on our right while we were engaged. A 
branch of it also curved eastward and partiallv covered our 
front. The ground between this ravine and the above road 
was occupied by men from the Fourteenth Corps. 

Of course, many circumstances of the battle were vividly 
recalled. The facts relating to the Twenty-seventh being 
ordered in were distinctly remembered. They w^ere as follows : 
While we were lying in reserve, with our brigade, not long 
after w^e had seen General Knipe's riderless horse and heard 
the report that the general had been killed, the general him- 
self came hurrying back from the front. He was a mercurial, 
demonstrative little man always ; but now he was wrought up 
more than common. He was frantic. Without appearing to 
address himself to any one in particular, he incpiired for Gen- 
eral Williams, and added that he wanted a regiment to support 
his right flank. His line was in danger of being turned, and 
his own Forty-sixth PennsvUania was suffering badly. These 
facts were stated in loud, impassioned tones, and with many 
vigorous gesticulations. General Hooker was sitting on his 
horse so near the Twenty-seventh that his voice could be 
easily heard, without his speaking loud. Shells were whistling 
and screaming everywhere, and minie balls frequently found 
their wav over to us, but he was as calm and self-poised as if 
he had been resting in the shade, bordering a Xorthern harvest 
field. 

When he found what Knipe wanted he turned and 



522 IIISTOKV OF THE 

pointed to a regiment near by and said. "There, General 
Knipe, take that one." " No-o, no-o, 1 don't want tliat one," 
Knipe fairly screamed, with long drawn empliasis on the noes. 
In tlie meantime he had not stopped, but had hurried by, still 
calling for General Williams. Hooker called, " Here. Gen- 
eral Knipe, General Knipe! come here I" Knipe did not 
hear, or affect to hear, at hrst, and one of Hooker's staff 
started after him, calling him to come back. Knipe finally 
turned and came back a few steps. Hooker this time pointed 
to the Twenty-seventh and said laconically, " Take that one." 
" All right!" said Knipe, " I'll take that one," still speaking 
in high tones and drawing out his words. Then, coming up 
to the regiment, as the men had fallen in ranks, he shrieked, 
" Twenty-seventh Indiana, I want you. This old brigade 
never has been whipped, and it never will be whipped." 
After which followed what has been narrated. 

Another incident was recalled, which occurred later, and 
in which General Knipe figured also somewhat humorously. 
He passed in reur of the Twenty -seventh while we were hotly 
engaged. He was still afoot and carrying his sword in his 
hand, unsheathed, as it had been before. He was also in his 
high state of excitement and was urging and encouraging the 
men, with all his former demonstrativeness and energy. A 
sergeant of the Twenty-seventh said in very bland tones, " Gen- 
eral, have you any chewing tobacco?" " Yes, I have some 
tobacco,'' the general replied, in the same high-keyed, long- 
drawn tone. And, jabbing his sword in the ground, with 
great energy, he produced from his breeches pocket a small 
piece of " plug," and handed it to the sergeant. The latter 
began turning it over and " sizing it up," as the boys now say, 
trying to decide whether or not there was too mucli of it for 
one good dhew. When the general saw what the sergeant was 
about he said in a perfectly natural, though, plaintive, tone, — 
all of his strained, keyed-up condition entirely gone, — •• That'' s 
all I've gvt."' All the boys in hearing laughed heartily, the 
sergeant took out his knife, cut the tobacco in two parts, put 
one in his mouth and handed the other back to the general, 
who thereupon pulled his sword out of the ground and went 
on his way. 

The boys making this visit could not fail to remem- 
ber how thick the rebel dead laid in our front after the battle 
was over, particularly in the small ravine near our line, and 



TWKN r^ -SK\ KN 111 INDIANA. 5:28 

on the slopes beyond it. In front of both tlie Forty-sixth and 
Twenty-seventh, dead bodies frequently lay across each other. 
Neither could the piteous moans and complaints of the 
wounded, continuintr all through the night, fail to come to 
mind. The vacant cabins before mentioned, which were 
now on our left, were used as field hospitals. One or two of 
the rebel wounded which had been carried there were loud 
and instant in their outcries. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Fesler's official report of this battle, 
entire, is as follows: "July 20th, at Peach Tree Run, Col- 
onel Colgrove was ordered by General Ruger to take a posi- 
tion on the right of General Knipc's brigade. It was done 
with some difficulty, as the enemy was about to get on Gen- 
eral Knipe's right fiank before the regiment could get the 
position ordered. vSoon after getting in position Colonel Col- 
grove was severely wounded, and the command of the regi- 
ment devolved on me. About 10 P. M. the enemy fell back, 
taking their killed and wounded with them. The loss in my 
regiment was four killed and ten wounded." Colonel Fesler 
did as much towards suppressing the rebellion as most men in 
his station in the army, but it was not done by writing official 
reports, after the battles were over. 

General Williams gives such a clear and easily understood 
discription of the field, and particularizes concerning the bat- 
tle in such an interesting way, that his report is quoted at 
length. He says : 

" The division crossed the creek early in the morning and, passing 
through Geary's division, followed a farm road along a wooded ridge, 
which intersects the Howell's Mill (or Paice's Ferry) road at the house of 
H. Embry. At this point the enemy had established a large post, strongly 
entrenched. The head of my column having reached a group of 
deserted houses about 600 yards from Embry's, I was ordered by 
the majc^r-general commanding the corps to halt. Knipe's brig- 
ade was massed on the right, and Robinson's on the left of the 
road. Ruger's brigade, in the rear, was moved to the right to connect 
with the Fourteenth Corps. Later in the day Geary's division was 
brought up on my left. One brigade occupied an eminence separated 
from my position by a deep, wooded hollow or ravine, which, passing 
between our positions, turned to the left behind Geary's advanced bri- 
gade, and terminated in the open ground, where was posted one of Ward's 
division. One of Geary's brigades lay at the foot of the hill occupied by 
his advance and near the lower end of this ravine. A similar ravine, but 
of less depth, lay between my position and the Fourteenth Corps, which, 
having somewhat refused its left, was constructing rifle-pits at an angle to 
the ridge I occupied, and considerably to the right and rear. My whole 



524 IIIsrOKV OF THE 

front was covered by dense woods and thickets. About 3:30 P. M. I was 
in the act of advancing a section of artillery and a strong reserve to the 
skirmish line, for the purpose of dislodging the enemy from his breast- 
works at Embry's house, when heavy volleys of musketry, commencing 
on the right of the Fourth Corps, and rolling in an increased volume 
toward my position, warned me that the enemy were attacking in force. 
I immediately ordered Knipeto deploy his brigade at double quick across 
the ridge in advance of the group of houses, and Robinson to extend from 
Knipe's left, along a farm road, on the north edge of the ravme, to con- 
nect with Geary and cover the ravine. Ruger's brigade was held in 
reserve to await the development of the attack. * '■•■ ^' * * Hardly 
had these dispositions been made before the enemy advanced upon us in 
great force, driving in our skirmishers with his line of battle, and, under 
cover of the thickets and undergrowth, coming close upon our lines 
before being seen. His main attack was along the ridge in the direction 
of Embry's house, but strong columns were sent down the ravine upon 
the right and left. That on the right, passing my flank unseen, fell upon 
the left regiments of the Fourteenth Corps. Finding from the enemy's 
fire that he was moving down the right ravine, I ordered a regiment (the 
Twenth-seventh Indiana Volunteers) from Ruger's brigade, to re-enforce 
Knipe's right. This regiment, with one wing of the Forty-sixth Pennsyl- 
vania \'olunteers, on Knipe's right, speedily checked and drove back the 
enemy on this flank, and held the ground until the close of the action. 
In the left ravine the enemy advanced in stronger force and, pushing his 
way down to the lower end, momentarily forced back a brigade of the 
Second Division. He suffered severely, however, for his temerity. The 
fire of Robinson's brigade swept across the lower and through the upper 
protion of the ravine, while the brigade of the Second Division, rallying 
across the lower end, poured volleys through half its length. A section 
of Woodbury's light twelve's, throwing canister, helped much to expel 
the enemy from this part of the field. 

In the meantime, Knipe's brigade, in the center, had heroically with- 
stood and thrown back several repeated assaults. " * * * I cannot 
too strongly praise ihe conduct of my division on this occasion. Not a 
regiment was broken or shaken, but without cover and in a fair field, a 
little over two-thirds of my command received and rolled back the 
repeated assaults of a numerically suiierior and confident force of the 
enemy. Prisoners were taken from two different corps." 

This Battle of Peach Tree Creek proved to be the hist 
battle, worthy of the name, that the Twenty seventh was to 
participate in. Several of our boys were yet to be killed and 
still more wounded, but the Twentieth Corps did not again 
confront the enemy in serious battle while the Twenty-.seventh 
remained in it as an organization. 

As the regiment had an honorable share in all the glory 
won here, it may be worthy of remark that this was one of the 
conspucious examples, of which there were many others, fur- 
nished by other troops in this campaign, showing that the 



TWENTY-SKVEXTH INDIANA. 



525 



Union army had come to be, if it was not so from the start, 
dillerent from any other army known to history, in that it 
could not be stampeded, or panic stricken, by sudden and 
unlooked-for attacks, even though they came in great force 
and from the flank or rear. This man Hood, who had com- 



#' « 



H 



-^^__»l*,.' J.J'.; •. * - * ' t, ' ' • 



i(^ 



* •^v'^'^/^-^' 
^:^v^i;':^'^':'^"'r• 



manded one of tlie corps of the lebel army since the beginning 
of this campaign, was now in supreme command, having 
superseded Johnston only a few tlays prior to this battle, 
lie had formerly been in the rebel army in \'irgini:i. His 



52G HISTORY OF THE 

troops were in our immediate vicinity at Atitietam. lie had 
failed to see that the success of Jackson's flank attacks luul 
been more apparent than real; and further, that their apparent 
success was because of the weakness and lack of co-operation 
among the higher officials on our side, rather than because 
large bodies of soldiers were at fault. As we have seen, he 
tried this species of tactics several times while this campaign 
progressed, always with disasterous results to his cause. Now 
that he had a wider field he was destined to persist in his 
infatuation until his army was largely sacrificed. His 
experience here should have convinced him, as it was calcu- 
lated to convince anyone, that he was the victim of a delusion. 
These Union soldiers would not give ground when properly 
commanded, and could not be forced to do so, unless they 
were fairly whipped. The enemy might come at an unex- 
pected time, or from an unexpected quarter, all that was needed 
was to give them a reasonable chance, and they would fight 
at one time, or facing in one direction, as well as another. 

General Knipe well says : " This fight was a fair stand-up 
fight, neither party having protection in the shape of breast- 
works." Had it not been for alert, competent commanders 
our armv would have been in no position for defense. As it 
was, some parts of it were caught in flank, others were caught 
in isolatedpositions, and the assault upon all was preconcerted, 
sudden and furious. Yet very slight were the advantages 
even temporarily gained. Along our entire division front not 
a man wavered. The first lines, formed in great haste, with- 
out any previous opportunity to study relative positions, were 
mantained to the end. Reinforcements were not called for, 
except to fill gaps, left open by an oversight, and reserves were 
not brought into action. Of all things, there was no encourage- 
ment here for rebel leaders to adopt " Jackson tactics " in the 
future. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



THE LAST ^lOXTH. 

The 21st of July was spent by the Twenty-seventh on the 
same ground where we had stood during the Battle of Peach 
Tree Creek, and where we had also spent the night. In the 
night we built a good line of breastworks, which we strength- 
ened and perfected after daylight. We ne.xt buried our own 
dead and those of the enemy nearest to us. The wounded had 
been mostly cared for by others before this, except a few of 
the enemy, that had fallen in obscure places. These were 
carefully looked after to-day. 

On the 22d. the Twentieth Corps advanced up close to 
the enemy's main line of defenses, north of the city of Atlanta. 
The skirmishers met with some resistance in this advance, but 
there was no severe fighting along our front. A line of works 
was finally constructed bv us, under fire of both musketry and 
artillerv. 

This was the day on which occurred the severe engage- 
ment known as the Battle of Atlanta. It was brought on by 
a large part of the rebel army making a circuit around the 
flank of the Union army and assaulting it from the ilank and 
rear. The battlefield was east and southeast of the city, and 
some four or five miles from our position. 

The troops engaged in the battle of .Vtlanta on the Union 
side mostly belonged to the Army of the Tennessee. General 
McPherson, the popular and brilliant commander of that army, 
was killed early in the action. His untimely death was greatly 
deplored. The rebel assault, coming from the direction it did, 
was unlooked for, and was impetuous and persevering, but it 
was signally repulsed. In its final issue this battle was a very 
positive Union victory. 

The Army of the Tennessee fully maintained its record 
in the battle of Atlanta. Notwithstanding that its defenses 
were '• turned,"' which means that the enemy approached 
from an entirelv dilVerent direction from which its defences 
IkuI faced, the men of that army simply climbed over <mi tlu> 



528 II I STORY OF THE 

opposite side of their defenses, and bravely stood their ground. 
Thev did more than this. Later in the battle, other rebel 
troops came out of Atlanta, from the direction that they had 
been expected originally, and attacked the men engaged on 
our side. Our soldiers were thus between two tires, and the 
fact seems clearly established that some of them sustained two 
assaults at the same time, coming from opposite directions, 
and successfully repelled both. That was the kind of men 
that were marching under the old Hag at this time I 

It was believed by many that the Twentieth Corps might 
have broken into Atlanta during this battle of the 22d of July. 
Skirmishers from our brigade advanced up closer to the city, 
and with less apparent resistance, than was the case at any 
other time, pre\ious to the tinal evacuation of the place. It is 
not improbable that, in the absence of a large part of the rebel 
army, a determined assault, at the right point, might have 
succeeded. The rebel generals frequently took great risks, in 
stripping one part of their line to strengthen another part. 
The trouble on our side in this case was to find the weak point 
and to get the necessary troops into position to assault it, in 
the short time allowed, strangers to the locality, as all of our 
generals were. 

On the 2od, the situation had again become normal. The 
enemy had taken a position behind a strong line of works. All 
day long there was a ceaseless cracking and banging of mus- 
kets and the regular booming of cannon. 

On the morning of the 24th, John K. Whetstine, of Com- 
pany G, was killed while the pickets were being relieved. It 
was the order to relieve the pickets before daylight, but for 
some reason there was a slight delay and it cost a worthy 
soldier his life. 

On the 25th, there was a noticeable increase in the inten- 
sity of the artillery fire, heavier guns being brought into use. 
During the day and after nightfall there seemed to be exten- 
sive conflagrations in Atlanta, kindled, as we supposed, by the 
fire of our heavy guns. Just before dark the Twenty-seventh 
relieved the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Xew York at 
the front, in a slight rain. 

The 27th of July was the Thirteenth New Jersey's day. 
Thev were assigned the duty that day of abating a nuisance 
that had been the occasion of considerable annoyance and loss. 
Between the picket lines of the two armies stood a house 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 520 

where rebel sharpshooters could secrete themselves and have a 
good shot at whoever might expose himself on our side. The 
Thirteenth was ordered to sally our and seize the house, cap- 
ture those who were in it, and burn it to the ground. This 
they did most handsomely, in plain sight of both armies. The 
facility and dispatch with which they gathered in those sharp- 
shooters and set fire to the house, was well worthy of the 
tumultuous applause that they received. The enemy did not 
seem to comprehend what was intended until they saw the 
smoke ascending skyward. They then opened with their 
artillery with great fierceness, but without avail. The Thir- 
teenth pluckily held its ground until the complete destruction 
of the building was assured, when it withdrew in good order. 
Fifteen prisoners were captured. The brigade provost mar- 
shal records that this made a total of G9 prisoners captured bv 
the brigade, up to that time in the month. 

On the 28th, we first heard of General Hooker's resigna- 
tion of the command of the Twentieth Corps. He did this 
because General Howard was appointed to succeed General 
McPherson as commander of the Army of the Tennessee. 
Howard had formerly served as a corps commander under 
Hooker and the latter now resented the idea of having the 
former given a higher command than he himself exercised. 
General Hooker had won the respect and confidence of the 
soldiers of all ranks in the Twentieth Corps during the prog- 
ress of the campaign, but if any tears were shed in the 
Twenty-seventh over his departure they were quickly dried 
when it was announced that (General .Slocum was to return 
to the corps. Though General Hooker possessed some bril- 
liant gifts, and is entitled to some credit for what he did in 
suppressing the rebellion, impartial history will not accord 
him a place of great eminence, either as a soldier or a man. 

On the 29th of July a step was taken which was re- 
peated frequently later. This was a sudden dash forward by 
the picket line, the object being to seize and hold ground 
closer up to the enemy's main line. To accomplish this it 
was necessary to rout or capture their picket line. At tiiis 
time the coveted ground was taken and held and one hundred 
prisoners were captured. 

The method adopted in this case and in others was sub- 
stantially the same. At a preconcerted signal our picket line 

leaped from its cover and rushed forward to the point desig- 
34 



5B0 HISTORY OF THE 

nated, which in this instance was the riflepits of the enemy's 
pickets. With as little ceremony as delay our men precip- 
itated themselves into the midst of the occupants of those 
riflepits. They fired at us when they first saw us coming, but 
their aim was too hasty to be effectual, a thing that had 
been definitely counted upon. Before they could reload we 
were upon them, and our muskets being still loaded, they 
could do nothing but surrender. The surprising thing about 
these episodes was the slight casualty, commonly attending 
them. To-day one hundred men, supposed to be on their 
guard, with loaded muskets in their hands, were rushed upon 
and captured, in open daylight, without their taking any- 
body's life. 

After the ground was once gained by these sudden dashes, 
the next thing was to hold it. At this point soldiers became 
gophers. With amazing dexterity and speed they dug holes 
for themseves in the ground, with picks and spades ; some 
would do the digging, while others, with their muskets, at- 
tended to the enemy. In an incredibly short time quite secure 
rifle pits were ready. 

The enemy, stationed further back, usually pelted men 
occupied in this way with all the fury possible, using both 
musketry and artillery. Frequently they advanced a line by 
"way of a counter charge. Sometimes they drove our skir- 
mishers back by these means, though not often. With the help 
of batteries and sharpshooters in our rear, we generally held 
the positions once gained. After we had gained the advanced 
position to-day and had entrenched, a well aimed shell pene- 
trated a rifle pit containing five Twenty-seventh men, wound- 
ing one of them. The other four abandoned the pit under 
musketry fire at close range, but all escaped unhurt. 

From this time until the 25th of August, almost a month, 
operations similar to those mentioned lieretofore, and such as 
usually pertain to a siege, went steadily forward. The posi- 
tion of the Twenty-seventh remained in the vicinity of the 
Howell's Mill wagon road, north of the city. Near this road, 
on the east side, the enemy had a formidable earth-work, or 
fort, with outlying breast-works and rifle pits. We persist- 
ently worked up towards this fortification. At the end of the 
time named, our advanced rifle pits were in short musket 
range of it, so close that its heavy guns were silenced for the 
most part. On this advanced line there was almost con- 



TWENTV-SEVKX'III INDIANA. 



581 



stant musket firing and the exposure was considerable. Two 
of our men, Thomas F. Pratt, of Company F, and George \\'. 
Stout, of Company B, were killed during this period, A num- 
ber of others were wounded. Back of this line was another, 
not so exposed, and farther back still was a third, where men 
were comparatively safe. Against artillery fire, however, men 
were not safe anywhere. Details sometimes of entire regi- 
ments and sometimes of smaller commands, took turns in 
occupying the most exposed lines. 

The month of August was not as hot as July had 
been. Some days the sun blazed upon us without mercy, but 
others were more tolerable, and the nights were comfortable. 






it,S&S* 







Sample of Atlanta Breastwork! 



In parts of our breast-works we arranged a cover of brush 
with the leaves on. This enhanced our comfort very much. In 
some instances these shades were ordered down. Those issu- 
ing orders in the army did not always think it necessary to 
give reasons for them. In this instance we supposed it was 
because the enemy would know, when they saw us arranging 
things so comfortably, that we did not contemplate any 
aggressive movement with respect to themselves. Of aH 
things they must have no rest. 

The most difficult problem with respect to our personal 
comfort day after day was, how to get sufiicient sleep ? In 



532 HISTORY OF THE 

addition to picket duty, or watchincr in the advance rifle-pits, 
where all sleep was wholly out of the question, much of our 
other duty was done at night. The pickets were relieved, 
and most of the going back and forth from the rear to any 
advanced position, had to be done while it was dark. All of 
these matters caused more or less disturbance, and materially 
interfered with the sleeping hours, not only of those who 
were doing the duty, but of others as well. Then, ahums 
were of almost nightly occurrence. If they did not reach the 
point of a call to arms, requiring all of us to fall into line and 
remain so until the danger had passed, they still resulted in 
every man being awake. As to sleep in daytime, myriads 
upon myriads of flies, enterprising, hungry, and venemous 
beyond description, swarmed in our camps like an Egyptian 
plague and rendered any attempt to do that a period of veri- 
table torture. That Atlanta was finally taken was not the 
fault of the flies and other pests of the region. They did 
their full share towards defending it. 

It was a m3'stery to us at the time what governed the 
firing of artillery during this siege. General Sherman and 
others have explained some of it subsequently, but much of it 
will doubtless never be accounted for. At any hour, day or 
night, one side or the other was liable to open up a furious 
cannonade. Perhaps, just before dawn some morning, or at 
some other hour through the night, or, it may be, at some 
hour through the day, the rebel artillery would suddenly begin, 
and, for a time, the air would be full of flying, hissing, swish- 
ing, screeching and bursting missiles. If it was in the night, 
the pyrotechnic display would be sublime. At another time 
all the concomitants would be the same, only it would occur 
at an entirely difi^erent hour. So with the artillery on our 
own side. There were seasons when it would all seem to be 
in operation. The solid earth would tremble with the terrific 
detonations, and the air everywhere would become sulphurous 
with the smell of gun-powder. At another time all would be 
as quite as a May mornnig. 

During the most of the period that the siege of Atlanta was 
in progress, the railroad trains came up close to our camps 
with pleasant regularity. Supplies averaged as plentiful and 
good in quality as they usually did, under other circumstances. 
There were only a few days that the mails did not arrive from 
the North, keeping us posted as to affairs at home. Occa- 



TAVENTY-SE\EXT1I INDIANA. O ' 

sionally our communications were interrupted, for short inter- 
vals. Rut such was the machine-like organization of the army, 
and the mar\clous energy and eillciency of all its parts, that 
these interruptions were reduced to the minimum, both as to 
number and duration. Throughout this entire campaign the 
army was far better supplied than was Pope's army in front 
of Washington, in 1862. In the one case, the distance from 
the base of supplies was fifty miles, and in the other, five hun- 
dred. In the tirst instance, there were fifty thousand men or 
less to provide for, in the second, not less than one hundred 
thousand. Such is the difference when every man does liis 
duty. 

From about the 17th or iSth of August, members of the 
Twenty-seventh began to surmise that some radical change 
of plan was in contemplation. Diaries written at the time 
make these disclosures; and it is curious how well they fit in 
with what has since been made public. At this precise date 
General Sherman came near making the move he made later, 
placing the Twentieth Corps back at the Chattahoochee river 
and, with the rest of his army, seizing the West Point and 
Macon railroads. It shows how lynx-eyed and quick witted 
soldiers became. He did not issue definite orders to this effect, 
he only mode some preliminary moves with this end in view. 
Then certain developments led him to try to accomplish the 
same result in another way. Still the men saw enough in the 
movements of supply trains to the rear, and the loosening up 
and transfer of other agencies and conveniencies, which hover 
in the region behind an army, to enable them to divine a good 
part of the truth. " Uncle Billy," they said, •' is about to 
try some other plan for getting into Atlanta." 

On the 22d there was an armistice on the picket line, 
arranged by the pickets themselves. This proved to be the 
last time that the non-veterans of the Twenty-seventh had the 
opportunity of meeting, in this way, their friends in gray. In 
fact, this was designed to be the last day that they would be 
required to duty at the front. 

On the 23d the Muster-out Rolls arrived, and the regi- 
ment was moved back into the third line, — supposed to be out 
of danger. 

The following day we policed the camp thoroughly, and 
put up tents in regular order. This was on the principle that 
a man shaves and puts on his best clothes when he is going 



534 HISTORY OF THE 

to be married, or hung, also when he is going to do nothing. 
The boys said at the time that if it meant anything, it meant 
we were about to move. They never had much confidence in 
extra preparations to enjoy camp life. Hence, they were not 
surprised to receive marching orders that same night. 

This was the movement of the Twentieth Corps back to 
the Chattahoochee river, to protect the bridge there and pre- 
vent the rebel army from going northward, while Sherman, 
with the balance of his army, swept around and seized the 
railroads over which Atlanta and its garrison still received 
supplies. This was the last march the Twenty-seventh ever 
made, and it was made entirely at night. The distance was 
not over eight miles, but we were delayed in starting, waiting 
for other troops to pass our position and practically the whole 
night was consumed. 

It is hard for anyone to realize now what a trivial affair 
we then considered such a march to be. It is sometimes said 
that a man can get used to anything. The statement when 
made is usually intended to be an exaggeration. The things 
that soldiers did get used to doing, however, and did without 
giving them a second thought, would appal them at the pres- 
ent time. To gather up all of one's worldly effects, including 
bedding, extra clothing, a part of a tent, provisions for sev- 
eral days, and most important of all, the trusty old musket, 
with its accoutrements and from sixty to one hundred rounds 
of ammunition, and carrying all of these, trudge along hour 
after hour, in the dark, was then accepted as a matter of 
course. 

The Twentieth Corps took up a strong defensive posi- 
tion, forming a half circle around the south end of the rail- 
road bridge over the Chattahooche, and proceeded to fortify 
it very thoroughl}'. Of course the Twenty-seventh went into 
the front line and bore its full share of the danger and toil. 
There was nothing else to do. There was no other line, 
exept the front line. As one of the boys wrote. " We had to 
grin and bear it." Thus the time went by until the 80th of 
August. On that day we did two apparently contradictory 
things. We first completed our muster-out rolls, then worked 
the balance of the day on the breastworks. Meanwhile Gen- 
eral Slocum had arrived and assumed command of the Twen- 
tieth Corps. When he rode around the lines no regiment 
greeted him witli heartier cheers than the Twentty-scventh. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH I.VPIANA. 535 

The few renmining days that we had to serve would seem 
shorter, and attended with fewer misgivings, with hini in 
command. As a regiment we were not given greatly to 
hero worship, but General Slocum suited us first rate. 

During this month of August there were two develop- 
ments in the Twenty-seventh, one having reference to en- 
listed men, and the other having reference to commissioned 
officers, both of which awakened no little interest. The 
matter having reference to enlisted men was the date of their 
muster-in, particularly as bearing upon the date when their 
term of service rightfully expired. 

We have seen that one of our early experiences in Camp 
]Morton was to be mustered into the service. It was the uni- 
versal understanding at that time that we were then being 
mustered into the service for which we had enlisted, and that, 
as a matter of course, our term of three years began then and 
there. All of the c'rcumstances attending the transaction, 
and those following after it, were certainly such as to give us 
that understanding, as they must have been especially designed 
for that purpose. The mustering officer was an officer in the 
United States army, his questions and investigations all had 
reference to our fitness for service in that army, the oath 
administered was the one administered to United States sol- 
diers and the three-years-or-during-the-war clause was in- 
cluded in it. On the other hand, not a word was said or a 
suggestion made, from the beginning to the end, about any 
other service or form of obligation. The conclusion was, 
therefore, unavoidable that, after the transaction was con- 
cluded, we were regularly in the army, and that our terni of 
service was in progress. 

So it was considered, not only by ourselves, but by others. 
It was definitely held over our heads that we were henceforth 
liable to all the pains and penalties of soldiers for any viola- 
tion of orders or regulations, the penalty for absence without 
leave, or desertion, in particular. Later on. we were paid 
from that date and in descriptive lists and other papers, that 
date was always given as the date of our muster-in. 

But when the time drew near that, according to this gen- 
eral understanding, those first mustered at Camp Morton 
would be entitled to be mustered out, the fact developed from 
somewhere that the date of muster of all the original members 
of the regiment was registered on the books as iiaving taken 



53G IIISTOUV OF THE 

place on September 12th, 1861, a full month after it had taken 
place, according to the foregoing view of it. 

Who had been instrumental in making such a record? 
Nobody knew. By whose knowledge or consent had it been 
made? Nobody pretended that it was by the knowledge or 
consent of those most concerned. What could be done about 
it? The officers of the regiment said they could do nothing, 
directly. All of them exercising any command over the men 
had succeeded to their positions long after the objectionable 
record had been made. 

\Vhat course were the men to pursue under the circum- 
stances? The writer was very sick at this time and with him 
the question of when he could start home, w'as entirely 
obscured by the more serious one, would he ever be able to 
start home? In reality he was nor able to travel until long 
after the date wdien the wrong entry concerning his muster-in 
■would have permitted his muster-out. He feels free, therefore, 
to say that few things in the three years of unsparing, self-sac- 
riticing service which these men gave, in such a laudable way, 
to their country, has impressed him as being so much to their 
credit as their conduct and spirit in this connection. No 
more convincing proof could be adduced of their stalwart 
good sense, as well as their stalwart patriotism, and their 
lofty ambition to maintain their own reputation, and that of 
the regiment to which they belonged, unsullied to the end. 
To be doomed to spend another month in the trenches, when 
they had been rightfully cherishing an expectation of an early 
departure for home, was, in itself, no trilling matter. Aside 
from any considerations of danger, it involved deprivations, an- 
noyances and toils, manifold and sore. Persons disappointed, 
through the fault of others, in their reasonable expectation of 
reaching home at an appointed time do not commonly accept 
the situation with equinimity, though provided for in a good 
hotel, and not altogether destitute of other comforts. In com- 
parison with instances such as these, however, the prospect 
before our Twenty-seventh men w^as simply overwhelming. 

\Vith some being killed everyday — buried an hour or two 
afterwards in a shallow trench, in an inhospitable country, 
without coffin, shroud or ceremony — the problem assumed a 
seriousness many times multiplied. As a matter of fact, two 
of the men here referred to were killed after they had served 
the full time for which thpv had enlisted and were more than 



TWEXTV-SEVENTll IXniANA. 537 

entitled to a diHercnt form of muster-out. If it is hard to 
think of death coming to one earlier in his service, how doubly 
hard is it to think of his falling when his time has really ex- 
pired, and dear ones are expecting his return? 

But the desperate feature of the case remains to be men- 
tioned. That was the bald, hideous injustice of the transac- 
tion, and the stinging insult to the manhood and self-respect 
of those concerned. The hardest thing that an enlisted man 
ever has to do in the army — a thing that he can scarcely bring 
himself to do at all — is to submit in silence, and go forward 
and do his duty, when some palpable wrong is done him, or 
some unquestioned right is denied hiin, in sheer disregard and 
contempt of his human intelligence and sensibilities. To be 
treated in some matter vitally aflFecting himself as if he were 
nothing but a dumb animal, a mere thing, and not resent it 
in some w^ay, is far more trying than any battle, campaign or 
bed of languishing. Sucli exasperating indignities are usually in- 
flicted by ignorant , thick-skulled, low-down wretches that a man 
who has any real soldier in him cannot help but know is his 
inferior in every way, shape and manner on earth, except the 
purely accidental and temporary circumstance of rank. To 
pass them by, therefore, without a conilict, and leave the future 
to make it right — which is invariabl}- the best way — is almost 
impossible, with a soldier of average courage and spirit. Sol- 
diers of all ranks, even up to the highest, are not entirely ex- 
empt from such experiences, though none are so liable to have 
them, or quite so helpless in view of them, as a man in the 
ranks. Vet, silent submission and cheerful obedience consti- 
tuted the course decided upon in this instance. A detail for 
duty on the skirmish line, from one of the companies, raised 
the question one morning, whether or not it was their duty to 
go. They did not refuse to go, they simply said to the officer 
in command, '" We have served out our time.'" 

This was reported, of course, to Colonel Fesler, and he 
came and conferred with the men at once. In the end, he gave 
them some good advice. He said, in substance, " The record 
of your muster-in is undoubtedly erroneous, but none of us 
here had anything to do in making it, and neither have we 
any authoritv to change or disregard it. The matter will be 
referred at once to those who have power over such matters, 
and there is every reason to believe that they will act promptly 
and rightfully in the premises. In the meantime, it is for you 



588 HISTORY OF THE 

to say what your conduct shall be. You have been good sol- 
diers so far; there could be none better. The army in which 
we are ser\ing is at a critical stage in its operations. The 
campaign in which all of us have been so long engaged, while 
apparently about to be crowned witii complete success, has 
not as yet been so crowned. ^Anything like insubordination 
or mutiny never has a right look, more especially in good sol- 
diers, and it would certainly look worse now, and be more 
liable to be misunderstood, than at almost any other time. If" — 

But before the Colonel could go on some one " raised the 
yell," as the saying was; that is, cheered; and that terminated 
the interview, and ended the matter finally. The detail went 
into the trenches with alacrity. So did all subsequent details. 
What was disappointment, wounds or death, compared with 
a charge of unfaithfulness or dishonor? It was not long until 
an order came to muster out-the regiment on September 1st. 

Following shortly after the above development, aflecting 
the enlisted men of the Twenty-seventh, was another, affect- 
ing the commissioned officers, in almost exactly the same way. 
This was a ruling that each successive muster would be 
regarded as a re-enlistment. Therefore, any officer \vho had 
accepted promotion subsequent to his original muster-in was 
not to be mustered out with the regiment. This affected 
every officer in the Twenty-seventh except two, and it was 
only because they had been shamefullv treated l)efore that, 
that it did not affect them. 

As in the other case, this created no small stir. It is still a 
source of quiet amusement in certain quarters that certain 
officers who, when the enlisted men were in trouble, had 
pooh-poohed and said, with lofty indifference, "such things 
were to be expected in the army ; never mind them !" now 
raved and swore terrifically. The writer has come upon such 
bad words as "tyrannical," "outrageous," "forced impress- 
ment,'' "conscripted," etc., etc., that were written down in 
this connection. It seems also quite certain that the very 
thing that was strongly advised against in the former case 
was now done. That is, a deputation, armed with sundry 
Whereases and Wherefores, " We respectfully request," " We 
urgently demand," and so on and so forth, was dispatched to 
those whom, it was believed, could have the hateful ruling 
rescinded. It makes all the difference sometimes whose ox is 
gored. Still, to say, or intimate, that anything really improper 



TWENTY-SEVKXTir INDIANA. 580 

or compromising was done by our officers would be misrepre- 
senting the facts. They, too, decided to remain at the post of 
duty, until relieved in a regular way. 

The course pursued by both otlicers and men in this con- 
nection was in striking contrast witli that of many others 
during the war, sometimes those occupying the highest 
stations. We have seen that, at this very time, our own 
corps commander, because he felt himself slighted over the 
promotion of another otTicer, was taken with tlie sulks, threw 
up his command, and went to the rear. At least one other 
corps commander did the same thing, in connection with the 
same incident. Both of them were appealed to in the same 
form, and in almost the same words, that was the case with 
our enlisted men, though ineffectually.* Both continued to 
draw their salary, but neither did anything further toward 
putting down the rebellion. 

The public at large is surely too much attracted by the 
glamour of noted personages, and history is sometimes too 
partial to a few favorites. It was not unusual in the Civil 
war, as it has not been unusual in all wars for the benefit of 
humanity, to make appeals to men who had already sacrificed 
almost everything except life itself. The men appealed to 
had already served long and diligently in positions of almost 
unnoticed and unrequited toil and exposure. For some special 
reasons they were asked to do still more, and they seldom 
refused. They were urged to consider the peculiar demands 
of some crisis and to subordinate self and self-interest still 
further for the common good, and, God bless them! they 
were ready to do it. 

But, at the very same time, and under the same or similar 
circumstances, other men, occupying conspicuous positions, 
men who had really never known what it was to sacrifice 
anything for anybody, when appealed to do something 
unusual, or that was a little distasteful or humiliating, refused 
utterly. Vital interests might be pending, past records might 
be involved, and great opportunities might be beckoning — it 
was all in vain. Is it right that men like these should be 
remembered, that their names should be blazoned on the 
pages of history and their forms be embodied in bronze and 
marble, while the others are passed by and forgotten? 



* Sherman's Memoirs, \'<)1. II, page 100. 



540 HISTORY OF THE 

Thus the time passed until the evening of August 31st. 
That evening our brigade band came to our camji and favored 
us with one of their incomparable serenades. Matchless as 
we had always considered their music to be, it seemed sweeter, 
especially more pathetic, now than ever before. The inevita- 
ble' " commissary " was also in evidence, and some became 
merry in that way. Not so with most of the boj^s. 

The serenade impressed us more deeply with what was 
about to take place than we had realized before. Those emo- 
tions which are peculiar to a long parting between true and 
tried friends were deeply stirred w^ithin us. There was a tre- 
mendous tugging at our heart-strings. 

The brave men of other regiments — how faithfully and 
unflinchingly they had stood by us tlirough all of the eventful, 
over-taxing period of our association, and how we honored 
and trusted them ! As individuals, we knew comparatively 
few among them. Not many of them were known to us per- 
sonally by sight, and especially not by name. But as members 
of this or that regiment we knew them all, and seemed to 
have a personal regard for each one. 

The veterans and recruits of our own regiment were like- 
wise to be left behind. A thousand acts of kindness and inci- 
dents of courage and heroism bound them and us " as with 
hooks of steel." Our discharge also meant a final separation 
from those who were going home with us. We began to see, 
as we had not seen so clearly before, that there was to be an 
entire, ruthless breaking up and casting ofT of those ties and 
associations which had been forming and maturing for so long. 

Alas, alack ! ^Ve did not then begin to comprehend half 
the truth! How could wet Was it to be expected that any 
of us could so penetrate the future as to comprehend the full 
meaning of that parting? Men shook hands and separated 
there, on the bank of that far-away Southern river, who, 
through the entire three years of that desperate, bloody war, 
were more than brothers to each other. When not separated 
by sickness or wounds, occupying the same narrow^ " bunk," 
sheltered, when sheltered at all, by the same little tent, cov- 
ered, when covered at all, by the same blanket, often hovering 
close together to make up for each other what the blanket 
lacked in warmth ; as between themselves absolutely counting 
nothing their own, "dividing the last cracker," " drinking 
from the same canteen," the onlv rivalry or contention ever 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 



541 



known between them being as to which should be tlic 
most unselfish and thoughtful towards the other, and surren- 
der the most for the other's good. Yet, though a third of a 
century has passed away since thai vSummer day, and children 
then unborn are telling their children, themselves well grown, 
how Grandpa was a soldier for his country, away back in the 
"sixties, those men have never again clasped hands or looked 
into each other's faces. Nor will they ever again, except in a 
land where war shall be no more. 


















' ' ■ '''j[^■:^:^r';'::j'."^*^'■'■ " ■ ■ ^ ' ' 

Soldiers' .MonuiiUMit, Jasper, Ind. llumi m Cn. k. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



HOME. 



There is an impressive little poem extant which depicts 
the home coming of a company from the Civil war. The 
point of the poem lies in the fact (and the surprise and conster- 
nation of the people over the fact) of the reduced number of 
the company. The announcement that it was coming home, 
after its long absence, naturally awakened intense interest. A 
large number of people assembled at the railroad station to 
meet and greet it. When the train finally arrived all eyes 
were strained to see its members alight. At last, after some 
delay, one only, infirm, weather-beaten, battle-scarred soldier 
came out of the car and descended to the platform. That was 
the company! He was so changed that nobody knew him. 

The case of the Twenty seventh was not so extreme as 
that, of course; but the regiment that came home was in strik- 
ing contrast to the one that went away. The men coming at 
this time represented the regiment. All accounts agree in 
giving the date of muster-out of those who came at this time 
as the final termination of the existence of the Twenty- 
seventh. Yet there was but slightly over one hundred of 
them. Qiiartermaster Jamison, who ranked as a first lieuten- 
ant, was in command. After deducting the veterans who 
had been transferred to another regiment, and the ofticers who 
had been held, under the ruling heretofore mentioned, this 
was what remained. The muster-out occurred in the camp 
on the Chattahoochee, on the morning of September 1st, by a 
Captain Weeks, of the regular army. Pay and discharges 
were not given the men, however, until Louisville, Kentucky. 
was reached, and there the final dissoluiion came. 

After being mustered out, the men turned in their guns 
and equipments. In the evening they crossed to the north 
side of the river. On the morning of September 2d they 
started home, on the top of freight cars. At Marietta it devel- 
oped that the railroad was broken up by rebel cavalry, caus- 
ing a delay there of two or three days. The same was true at 



TWENTV-SEVENTir INDIANA. 543 

Chattanooga. The men of the Twenty-seventh came out of 
the hitter phice on the first train leaving there after the road 
was repaired. It was a train of open flat cars, and witliout 
seats, of course. 

The men did not arrive at Louisville until the morning of 
September 18th. (A passenger train now goes over the same 
route, from Atlanta to Louisville, in sixteen hours). In the 
evening of September 13th, as darkness was coming on, the 
men were called into a paymaster's office, at Louisville, and 
were paid in full, including one hundred dollars bounty. 
They were also given their discharges. Most of them at once 
crossed over to Jeffersonville or New Albany (there were no 
bridges spanning the Ohio at those points at that time) and 
took the first trains out for their homes. The Twenty-seventh 
Regiment Indiana Volunteers was no more. 

The home coming was in no case attended with any pub- 
lic demonstrations. There was no booming of cannon, ringing 
of bells, blare of brass bands, or cheers. In some respects the 
occasion resembled the return of Rip Van Winkle, after his 
twenty years sleep ; and in others the return of a run-away 
bridal couple, when the old folks decline to be reconciled, it 
had become too common to have men go away to the army 
and come back, and there were too many people that were 
only sorry that any were able to return. But neither of 
these last facts seemed so painful to some of us as the first 
one, which was that we had really almost been lost sight of 
and forgotten, by a great many people, of whom we had hoped 
better things. 

When one Twenty -seventh soldier, that the writer has 
occasion to remember about, alighted from the train, at the 
village station, unannounced, the faces of all the people were 
turned up to him, as he came out on the platform and de- 
scended the steps, as blank as if he had been an industrious 
beggar, asking for alms. When he approached a young man, 
who had been a former neighbor, with somewhat effusive 
greetings, surely pardonable under the circumstances, the 
young man either did not, or affected not, to know him, and 
could not be brought to a very vivid recollection of him. As 
he walked out to his home, in the country, another former 
neighbor rode along with him on horseback. The soldier had 
been sick and was obliged to sit down frequently to rest, but 
the man did not ofier to let him ride. When he arrived at 



544 



IIISTOIIY OF THE 



home, though his dear old father and mother opened wide 
their arms, in a fond, passionate welcome, and shed copious 
tears of joy over his return, an uncle, who happened to be 
present, did not as much as offer to shake hands with him. 
He had been on the wrong side in the war to suit the uncle. 
This one instance may not be a good illustration of the 



n- 




'--■t^^jivilWlfffe^i^ 



A Typical Indiana Fuieside Before the \\'aii. 

" The winds of heaven never fanned, 
The searching sunlight never spanned, 
The borders of a better land 
Than our own Indiana." 

end, as what has been written heretofore is doubtless an 
imperfect portrayal of tlie beginning and middle, of the serv- 
ice and experience of the men of the Twenty-seventh. This 
is taken from real life, however, and like the balance, has the 
merit, at least, of not being overdrawn. 

It is not really within the scope of this narrative as first 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 545 

decided upon to pursue the history of these men further. It 
seems ahnost necessary, however, to account for tiiose left 
behind, when the term of service of the regiment proper 
expired. Most of tlie commissioned officers were mustered 
out, by order, on November 4, 1864. 

One hundred and twenty-nine of the enlisted men had 
re-enlisted as veterans while the regiment was at TuUahoma. 
All of those still living were transferred to the vSeventieth 
Indiana, as well as all recruits whose terms of service had not 
expired, and a due proportion of commissioned officers with 
them. The details of their subsequent experiences have not 
been supplied to the writer. Tiiey are understood to be sub- 
stantially the same as other members of the Seventieth, how- 
ever. That regiment made the march to the sea with Sher- 
man, and afterwards up through the Carolinas. After the 
rebels had laid down their arms, vSherman's army continued 
its march, in peace, on to Richmond and Washington. We 
have seen heretofore that our own Twenty-seventh boys who 
re-enlisted encaiiiped on the battlefield of Chancellorsville, 
just two years to a day after they had been in battle there at 
first. 

At Washington they participated in the Grand Review,, 
one of the most memorable pageants, and surely the most 
remarkable one, that the world has ever witnessed. The 
spectacle of a victorious army of two hundred thousand 
veteran soldiers, marching through the streets of the Capital 
of their country, at the close of a bloody four-years war, with- 
out a single captive, without a penny's worth of booty, with- 
out malice in their hearts toward any one, without a disposition 
even to gloat over a fallen foe ; glad and cheering only because 
the Union had been restored, the Republic was safe and home 
was in sight — who had ever seen such a spectacle before, 
and who will ever see such a one again? 

When the term of enlistment of the Seventieth expired, 

in June, 1805, our veterans, and recruits whose time was not 

yet out, were transferred to the Tliirty-third Indiana. It was 

not long after this, however, until the Thirty-third was ordered 

to Louisville, Kentucky, to be mustered out. This occurred 

July 21, 1865, and all former members of the Twenty-seventh 

were mustered out at that time. Without further statement 

of the fact, therefore, it will be understood that wherever the 
35 



546 IIISTOUY OK THE 

word " veteran " occurs in this volume, whether in the roster 
or elsewhere, this, very briefly, was their history. 

The first reunion of the survivors of the Twenty-seventh 
was held at Gosport in 1885. It was wholly informal and 
without large publicity. About forty former members of the 
regiment were present. Since then very successful and de- 
lightful meetings have been held at Greencastle, Seymour, 
Washington, Martinsville, Edinburg, Bedford, Greenfield, 
Indianapolis, Bloomington, North Salem, etc. 

To print all of the able addresses, poems and various pa- 
pars presented at these re-unions would alone require a volume. 
Most of them have been by persons not formerly connected 
with the regiment, and have been so complimentary, so out- 
spoken in their kindly appreciations of the character and 
services of the Twenty-seventh, as to render their publication, 
under the auspices of the regiment itself, of doubtful propri- 
ety, able as they have been intellectually, and highly as they 
have been appreciated. Space remains in this volume for one 
or two only. 

The following original poem was read by Dr. John Clark 
Ridpath, at the camp-fire, in connection with the re-union of 
the Twenty-seventh Indiana Association, in Meharry Hall, 
DePauw University, Green Castle, Indiana, July 2, 1886. 

THE TWENTY-SEVENTH. WELCOME! 



I. 

O ye men who flew to arms 
In the midst of war's alarms, 
Fell in line without a word, 
Seized the musket and the sword, 
Turned from home to march and fight 
In the battle for the right, 
There is welcome here for you 
O ye men who wore the blue I 

II. 

Ye whom bugles sounding far 
Called and marshalled forth to war; 
Ye to whom it seemed the best 
To lose your lives and save the rest, 
Come and camp to-day a while 
In the light of Freedom's smile. 
Hear the cheers that ring for you 
O ye men who wore the blue ! 



TWExXTV-SEVENTH INDIANA. 547 

III. 

Near a lifetime 'tis aejo 
When the madmen struck the blow, 
Dared the people, kindled strife. 
Sought to take the Nation's life, 
Smote old Sumter as she sate, 
Would have rent each noble State 
From the Union— but for you, 
O ye men who wore the blue ! 

IV. 

Armies rose and wheeled away 

In that great heroic day ; 

They were lost awhile from sight 

In the thickest of the fight ; 

In the curling battle smoke 

Where the gray lines reeled and broke. 

You were hidden long from view, 

O ye men who wore the blue ! 

V. 

But you came through dead and dying 
With the old flag proudly flying ! 
And the cheer of victory 
Rising to the distant sea 
Told the world how freemen fight. 
In the cause of truth and right, — 
Told how brave a band and true 
Were the men who wore the blue ! 

VI. 

History with generous pen 
Hath enrolled you all for men ! 
She hath set your battles down 
In the world's book of renown ! 
Not a name shall e'er be lost 
Of that patriotic host 
W'ho with wounds and death in view 
Braved it all and wore the blue! 

VII. 

On old Cedar Mountain's side, 

By the Rappahannock's tide, 

At Antietam's bloody Bridge, 

On the Cemetery Ridge, 

From the Tennessee's red banks. 

Hard on Johnston's broken flanks, 

To Atlanta's walls and through 

Marched the men who wore the blur ! 



548 IIISTOIIY OF THE 

VIII. 

Some came home or deaf or blind, 

Some had left their limbs behind, 

Some were scarred with wounds and torn, 

All were bronzed and battle worn; 

But you came with spirits high, 

With the flashing of the eye, 

And the land was proud of you, 

O ye men who wore the blue ! 

IX. 

Not a braver regiment 
Than the Twenty-seventh spent 
Hope and health and blood and life 
In those awful years of strife ! 
Not a firmer stood at 'rest, 
Not a nobler bared its breast ! 
Not a line more tried and true, 
O ye men who wore the blue ! 

X. 

Years have fled, and ye are here 

To revive with song and cheer 

Memories that drift afar 

From the grand old days of war ! 

In this classic, loyal hall 

Light your camp-fire, roll the ball ! 

Welcome here, ye brave and true — 

Welcome all who wore the blue ! 

At the same time vSergt. Lewis P. Stone, of Company I, 
read the following paper. For what it reveals of army life, 
as well as illustrating the varied character of the exercises at 
a camp-fire, it is deemed worthy of a place here. 

HARDTACK AND BACON. 

In 1861, when the alarm bells of war were sounded and old men and 
boys alike came marching np a hundred thousand strong, or more, to see 
about the racket (or words to that effect), there appeared in camp a 
mysterious stranger — who he was, from whence he came or what kind of 
stuff he was made of, were questions often discussed but never solved — 
and to those who knew him best this was no surprise, for never was there 
a harder subject. He was tortured in boiling grease, immersed in water 
day after day, was reduced to a powder by being confined in a bag and 
pounded with stones, was transfixed by sticks and scorched before merci- 
less camp fires, to make him reveal his parts. His body was made the 
food of devouring worms — but they only served to intensify his cohesive- 
ness. Meekly he bore the indignities and wrongs that were heaped upon 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 540 

him, but with peerless devotion he maintained the mystery of his hard- 
ness, like all good soldiers. Not only this, but he came to stay and he 
stayed. He was in the first three months' service and then veteranized 
^' for during," and never was there a truer, better soldier. At first mis- 
trusted and abused, he gradually won his way to the confidence of the 
soldier, until he finally, not only conquered their respect, but love, and by 
common consent, they called him by the endearing name of " Hardtack." 
In the flush and enthusiasm of their new found love the boys said that he 
was " just good enough to eat," and although he was numerous — millions 
of him — yet scarcely was he sufficient to appease their voracious appe- 
tite. 'Tissaid "there are empty voids this world can never fill," and I 
guess that's so — for with the millions upon millions of hardtack devoted 
to this purpose, never was the cry of "hardtack, hardtack, more hard- 
tack," ever hushed in the army. One by one he disappeared — fell as 
martyrs to a cause; until few were left to tell the story of a devoted, 
though hopeless effort. 

With characteristic self-denial, Comrade Crose spared one of the 
original hardtacks from the fate of all others that fell into his hands. 
And so, to-night, through his kindness, I have the pleasure of holding up 
before you, boys, one of the old veterans of the war. 

He was born at Fortress Monroe in 1861, following McClellan's army 
nearly to Richmond; thence was shipped back to Pope's army; was in 
the battle of Second Bull Run, and was rescued from slaughter on that 
bloody field of carnage, and there honorably discharged by the order of 
Pap Jameson— and sent to the home of his rescuer in this city. Look at 
him ! think of him ! a quarter-century old, and yet no moss grows on his 
back— as bright and slick and hard as ever. But we must not forget that 
amid ihe scoffs and jeers of persecutors and the vicissitudes of war, he had 
one friend, who from the first, stuck closer than a brother could. She was 
always true to him. Such unselfish devotion as she lavished upon her 
lover was seldom seen before, and perhaps to her devotion, more than 
any other cause, was due the triumph he finally achieved over the affec- 
tions of the soldier. With her loving hands many rough places were made 
smooth. She prepared the way, as it were, before him. She poured out 
rivers of her fatness that he might be made rich. No sacrifice that she 
could make for him was refused. And yet, while we may remember her 
devotion and speak in praise of her virtues, such are the restrictions of 
society that we dare not call her by the pet name we loved so well, and 
must therefore be content to call her— Bacon. But to us she could never 
be so sweet by any other name as that we called her then. Hardtack 
and his help-meet entered into limitless combinations, which, if they 
could all be given, would paralyze a modern devotee of the culinary art. 
Some of these preparations were good — some were bad, but none were 
ever so vile as to long go begging for some one to take it in. War, they 
say, makes men cruel and inhuman, but I never saw a soldier turn a cold 
shoulder on anything good to eat. Someway they largely lived by eating. 
In the camp, on the march, on the battlefield, everywhere you could 
hear the cry " Hardtack and— bacon, more hardtack and— bacon," and 
the nearer we came to the Johnnies, the louder grew the call. It seemed 
to whet the appetite, and on such occasions we would always be short of 



550 HISTORY OF THE 

this commodity. It had a wondL-rfully quieting effect upon the nerves 
at that trying moment, just l)efore the ball opens, and the fun begins. 
Nibblmg at hardtack, soaked in bacon juice, has saved many a fellow an 
attack of buck-ague — steadied his legs and kept his face to the enemy. 
Defeat was never known to an army well equipped with hardtack and 
bacon. All honor to hardtack and l^acon. 

At the camp-fire in connection with the reunion of the 
Twenty-seventh at Alartinsville, Mr. J. W. Fesler, a son of 
Col. John R. Fesler, of the Twenty-seventh, delivered the 
address found below. It is given a place, not only for its 
own sake, but as illustrating the sentiments of our children, 
the parts they take in our reunions, and the part they will 
eventually take in the affairs of the country. 

THE SONS OF VETERANS. 

The grandest privilege of the young man of 1861 was to enlist in the 
Union army. The grandest privilege of the young man of 1889 is to 
hold a father's honorable discharge from the Union army. For after the 
lapse of a quarter of a century it must be the verdict of every patriotic 
American citizen that the records of that memorable struggle for Union 
and liberty is the brightest page in our country's history, and renders 
immortal the name of every Union soldier. 

The record of those four terrible years furnishes a story of patriotic 
devotion, patient endurance and heroic self-sacrifice that cannot be told 
too often; a story which, as long as men continue to honor noble deeds, 
must awaken the loftiest sentiments and call forth the noblest impulses 
of the human soul. And why should it not be so? No army was ever 
moved by purer motives or for a grander purpose. It was an army of 
patriots; not hirelings. It was an army that fought not for men, but for 
principle; not for conquest, but for a united country; not to enslave, but 
to free. Fired with the inspiration and determination that must come 
from fighting for such a cause, this grand old army neither paused nor 
swerved until its starry banner waved once moreover a reunited country, 
wherein all men are ecjual and every man is free. 

So, I say, the young man of to-day who can point to a father's honor- 
able record in the Union army has inherited a legacy, and enjoys a 
distinction, of which he may well feel proud. 

It is fitting, then, at these regimental reunions, where a few surviving 
comrades meet to exchange a kindly greeting, and recall the experiences 
of other days, that something should be said in behalf of the Sons of 
Veterans, whose high duty it must ever be to guard zealously and pre- 
serve at whatever cost, the results of your victories. For it is they, not 
you, who will receive the full rewards of your sacrifices and to whom 
must be entrusted the results of your achievements. Whatever benefits 
you are to receive must come largely from a consciousness of duty well 
and honorably done, in an hour of your country's need. All else must 
rest with a grateful people. 

It follows, therefore, that the holiest obligation, the highest and most 



TWENTV-SEVEXTH INDIANA, 



551 



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552 HISTOKV OF THE 

sacred duty, of Sons of X'etcrans to-day, is a just appreciation, and a 
sincere and grateful remembrance of the immortal lessons taught by the 
rebellion. This is all that we can do; it is the very least that we should 
do. With the old veterans passing away by thousands annually, it is a 
matter of but few years until the last one shall have answered his last 
roll-call. And this is the saddest reflection of all — the fact that the day 
must come when not one man of all that army will be left to tell the 
story. The duty of Sons of Veterans thus becomes more imperative 
with increasing years and demands that the same patriotism which 
inspired the boys of '(>! to risk all in defense of the flag, now demands 
that their sons shall be none the less ready to uphold with honor what 
they secured with blood. 

The sentiment which to-day finds expression in such language as 
" that will be a happy day for this Republic when the last beggar of the 
Grand Army is securely planted," and that "the war has left us as a 
legacy only a grand army of pensioners and office-seekers," is an insult 
to our hero-dead and the basest ingratitude to our soldier-living. Let all 
such enemies say what their small souls and treasonable hearts may 
prompt them to say, but they cannot take away one iota from the legacy 
the war has left coming generations. It has left us an army of pensioners; 
but that list constitutes the nation's Roll of Honor; and full and com- 
plete justice will never be done until that list includes the name of every 
man who wore the blue. And if there are office-seekers among them, 
the people have more than once said none others are more capable or 
more deserving. But it has left us more. It has left us a nation that 
to-day unfurls a flag before the admiring eyes of all the world that is 
known to be the emblem of " The grandest national idea, the brightest 
national hope, and the firmest national union that has ever blest the his- 
tory of human government." 

So, I repeat, the first and highest duty of Sons of Veterans to-day 
lies in the grateful remembrance and continued acknowledgment of an 
obligation that can never be adecjuately paid. 

Of late years there has been a tendency in certain ([uarters to dis- 
courage all reference to the history of the rebellion, for the reason that it 
might tend to keep alive the memories of the war. Such efforts have 
invariably met the rebuke they deserve, and that will be a dark day in 
our history when it is otherwise. The safety of the Republic demands 
the memory of the Union soldier and the cause for which he fought shall 
be perpetuated. It demands that the cause for which two and one-half 
millions of volunteer heroes went forth to battle and to die if need be 
shall never be misunderstood; it demands that the memories of \'icks- 
burg and Shiloh, of Antietam and Gettysburg, of Libby and Anderson- 
ville shall not die; it demands the cause for which the immortal Lincoln 
lived and died; the cause for which that true patriot and consummate 
statesman, Oliver P. Morton, gave his best energies and undying love; 
the cause for which Grant and Logan, Thomas and Hancock, Sherman, 
Sheridan and Colgrove fought, shall never be forgotten. There is and 
there always must be a distinction between the cause of the Union and 
the cause of the rebellion, so long as there is a difference between 
loyalty antl disloyalty; between union and disunion; between patriotism 



TWKXTV-SEVENTII INDIANA. 553 

and treason; between right and wrong, and no lapse of time nor any 
amount of "gush" about the "brotherhood of man," can blot out the 
difference. 

This sentiment only? Admit it. Hut it is a sentiment that means a 
truer patriotism, a nobler manhood, and a more intelligent citizenship; it 
is the sentiment that is to-day building the greatest soldiers' monument 
on the earth, to commemorate the services of Indiana in the war — a 
monument that will stand as an eternal witness of the patriotism, 
courage and valor of those whose memory it perpetuates. Yes, it is the 
sentiment that made a member of this very regiment, while suffering 
intense pain a few months ago, from the loss of an arm at Chancellors- 
ville, bear it with heroic fortitude, and thank God he was suffering for his 
children and his country, and he is only one of ten thousand such. 

May the memory of the Union soldier, then, live as it deserves to 
live, so long as there is a veteran on the earth; so long as there is a son 
of a veteran on earth; aye, so long as the fires of patriotism burn in the 
hearts of men, may their memories live. For, w.th such an influence at 
work, the spirit of American patriotism can never die; this lavish expend- 
iture of blood and treasure will not have been in vain, and the saddest 
period in our country's history will be remembered only for the lesson it 
has taught and the blessings it has secured. 

On behalf of the Sons of Veterans, then, for whom I speak to-night, 
I pledge eternal love, reverence and honor. Your lives shall ever be to 
us an inspiration and a blessed memory, and when the last one of you 
shall have answered the bugle call of the Great Commander, there will 
be no prouder citizen than he who can say, " I am the son of a Union 
soldier." 




Maj.-Gkn. X. P. Banks. 
(Plate delayed.) 



BEARING UPON GETTYSBURG. 



More or less pressure has been brought upon the writer, not all of it 
from outside of himself, to have him give expression to some strong state- 
ments and make some rather harsh retorts, concerning certain officers of the 
Second Massachusetts, in connection with the words in the report of the 
Adjutant General of that state, referring to the Twenty-seventh at Gettys- 
burg, and other similar matters. While anything that might raise serious 
(juestions, or that might be considered ill-tempered, would not be proper 
in itself, or meet the approval of most of the survivors of the Twenty- 
seventh, the plain statement of some other facts will be less liable to objec- 
tions and perhaps be justified, not only as throwing light upon this one 
subject, but as showmg, at the same time, one of the phases of army 
experience, as we in the Twenty -seventh saw it. 

A certain number of the officers of the Second Massachusetts, par- 
ticularly of the earlier officers of that regiment, manifested what seemed 
to be a decided aversion for the Twenty-seventh and all connected with 
it, at the start; and, as far as they remained with the Second, continued in 
that course until the end. They were as careful, more especially, not to 
have any intimate or friendly social relations with anyone connected with 
our regiment, officers as well as enlisted men (if not with all other regi- 
ments except their own), as if the whole of us were confirmed Asiatic 
lepers. Among themselves they were singularly unbending, jovial, often 
prankish and even rowdyish. But when it came to others, above all, the 
Indiana men, it was a severe case of the Jew and the Samaritan over 
again. 

The attitude of these officers toward enlisted men of all regiments, 
those of their own regiment more than of others, was notorious. It was 
extreme in its severe exclusiveness, and suffocating in its august uppish- 
ness. Nobody ever saw or heard of anything like it, anywhere else in 
this country, either among volunteers or regulars. 

The writer has served on picket when an officer from the Second 
Massachusetts was in command. For the entire twenty-four hours, the 
officer would not deign to speak, as much as a word, to anyone on the 
detail, except such as pertained strictly to the most formal matter of 
official duty. Like a gloomy owl, he sat far apart, by himself, looking 
wise and important, but saying nothing. If he relapsed in his grand and 
awful dignity, during the entire time, as much even as to eat a mouthful 
of food, he was careful that none of us should see it. We had our rations 
with us, of course, and cooked and ate them; had our jokes and fun, when 
not on the relief doing duty, and whiled away the time as agreeably a& 
possible. But the officer would none of it. No one present must see 
that he was human. 

The relations that should be observed between officers and enlisted 
men, however, is a military question, not relevant in this connection. 
True, General Sherman says of General Thomas, " Between Thomas and 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 555. 

his men there existed a most kindly relation. He often talked with them 
in a very familiar way." All who served under " Uncle Billy " know that 
he habitually did the same. But then — Sherman and Thomas were not 
original officers of the Second Massachusetts ! 

But when it comes to the relations of an officer in one regiment to 
another officer, of the same or superior rank, in another regiment, espe- 
cially when the two regiments are necessarily thrown together a great 
deal, the case is different. A former officer of the Twenty-seventh, who 
in the army was the peer of any officer of his rank anywhere, a thoroughly 
competent, dignified, gentlemanly officer, and one who, since the war, 
has gone out and made easy conquest of large wealth and of high official 
and social position, writes that, though related officially to the officers 
of the Second Massachusetts so long and so intimately, when it came to 
personal or social relations, many of them, including the chaplain, did 
not encourage as much as a speaking accjuaintance witli him, or with any 
of the officers of the Twenty-seventh. A civil question or a common 
courtesy was almost invariably answered with a cold stare, or an insolent 
rebuff ! This statement has been confirmed by a number of former 
officers of the Twenty-seventh. 

It must be confessed that it is not an easy task to think or write of 
such a condition of affairs with absolute composure. At the start, the 
officers of the Twenty-seventh were not quite social outcasts I One was 
the grandson of a former president of the United States, and the brother 
of a future president. With him in the regiment were judges, bank pres- 
idents, clergymen, attorneys, physicians and various other civil and 
ecclesiastical dignitaries. Several of the younger officers were university 
students or graduates. If these officers were novices in military affairs, 
as most Western . officers were, they were all in that respect that they 
claimed to be. As they did not deserve snubbing because of what they 
really were, neither did they because of what they pretended to be and 
were not. 

Later on, the Twenty-seventh came to have many as good officers, 
as such, as could be found in the army. This is a deliberate statement, 
controvert who may. They were thoroughly posted as to their duties 
and invariably performed them thoroughly. In addition to this, they 
were as royal souls personally as ever breathed. This is but a meager, 
and perhaps unnecessary, tribute from one who knew them so well and 
has pondered their character and conduct so long. While rather too 
modest and unassuming (if those could be faults), they were well- 
born, fairly well educated, brainy, courageous and clean. Some of them 
were Christians. Yet, here were men, in no way their superiors, either ia 
rank, competency, or as men — often their juniors in age — affecting an air 
of cold exclusiveness— of a lofty, haughty, arrogant disdain— for them 
and theirs! 

Truth to tell, these things have been a paradox and stumbling block 
to the writer from that day to this. These officers, who were guilty of 
this offensive conduct, were understood to be descended from some of 
the oldest families of New England. They boasted of the number of 
university men among them, and some of them — the chaplain, at least — 
were supposed to be Christians. All of these points have been repeat- 



556 HISTORY OF TIIK 

edly put forward by their friends, if not by different ones of their own 
number, as being to their credit, and as constituting a part of their 
title to fame — the Christian feature, in some instances, being made espe- 
cially prominent. 

If, however, these last facts were true of these individuals, what, in 
the light of the other facts, stated herein, becomes of the widely accepted 
theory that high birth, education and religion make men more catholic in 
their ideas and more unselfish and agreeable in their conduct? In view 
of all the facts in the case, what shall be done with the oft-repeated doc- 
trine that a noble ancestry, and enlightened mind and Christianity, beget 
courtesy, graciousness and brotherhood? In other words, if the course 
pursued by these officers was not rank codfish, dense ignorance and 
coarse, brutal heathenism, what was it? Shades of Harvard University 
and of Puritanism ! Divine example of the man of Nazareth ! 

As remarked heretofore, these considerations are given a place here, 
as an important, if not a necessary, feature of this narrative. They serve 
to show something of one phase, and a prominent one, of the history of the 
the Twenty-seventh. In daily contact with these persons, some one or 
more of them at all of the various headquarters — pushing themselves as 
they did into places of prominence — with them in absolute control, for 
the first year, at brigade headquarters, it can be readily understood what 
it was, in some peculiar respects, to serve in the Twenty-seventh, and 
why such items as these connected with the battle of Gettysburg, and 
other similar ones, are to be found in reports, public records, etc. As far 
as the writer is informed, no other regiment in the Union army had its 
path, rugged enough at best, so planted with thorns, by those long and 
closely associated with it, as was that of the Twenty-seventh. 

It must be understood, though, that the facts mentioned were not 
characteristic of all of the officers of the Second Massachusetts. It may 
be that they were not all of the purest strain of Puritans, as they were 
not all university men! Or was it because they were not all Christians, of 
the same type? There were exceptions, anyway, and, towards the last, 
there were notable exceptions. It is for this reason that the situation is 
delicate and that statements along this line are hard to frame, if not of 
questionable utility. No one will ctmclude surely, that sweeping, job- 
lot criticisms are intended in this connection, as there is no general sense 
of injury or soreness to prompt them. The writer, personally, has sub- 
stantial reasons for the kindly recollections that he will always cherish 
for different Second Massachusetts officers — one in particular. Other 
former members of the Twenty-seventh, both officers and enlisted men, 
received similiar courtesies from those who wore shoulder straps in the 
old Second, and still have similar impulses concerning them. No offense 
or disrespect is meant for those not guilty — nor indeed for others. This 
is mostly history. 



THE REGIMENTAL ROSTER. 



In the army the roll, or list of names, of a company, or of a detail or 
squad of men, is called a " roster," though in the Twenty-seventh, in 
common conversation, that name was not often used. As the command 
was "Fall in for roll-call," so it was usually "the company roll," or "the 
roll " of this or that body of men. 

The writer has found the study of the regimental roster — that is the 
rolls of the several companies — a matter of peculiar interest. This has 
been the same whether the study has been incidental, in preparing the 
roster for publication, or whether it has been direct, for its own sake. No 
other portion of the history will yield better returns for the time spent, 
either in the way of information or of pastime. The story or stories told 
by the roster, if not presented in pleasing form, consisting only of names, 
dates and isolated statements, will, nevertheless, awaken thought, and 
will sometimes touch the heart. 

The writer has spent considerable time in looking over the roster of 
the Twenty-seventh, with a view of making out the descent of the men of 
the regiment, that is the race, or stock, of people to which they belonged. 
This, in some cases, is attended with difficulties, of course, and the con- 
clusions reached can not be positive and unetjuivocal. Still, anyone 
qualified for such a study will find it both interesting and profitable. We 
had in the Twenty-seventh not only the representatives of the bravest 
and most warlike races of the world, but we had also a preponderance of 
the very names that have fought in all of the battles for liberty and the 
rights of men, known to modern history, particularly the war of the Rev- 
olution and of 1812. 

The writer has also found it interesting to run over the names on 
the roster with the view of simply noting the important ami often tragical 
facts that abound so plentifully in connection with individual names, and, 
in some instances, to trace these facts along the line of the history of the 
regiment, or in relation to certain classes of persons. In other words, he 
has sought to answer the question, what is the record of this or that per- 
son? or, what is the record of some particular two or more' persons, in 
some way related to each other, as indicated by the roster? 

As illustrating the results of such investigation, the roster shows 
that a soldier in one of the companies was wounded four times, in as many 
different battles. He recovered from all of these wounds, however, and 
turned up smilingly for other battles. He re-enlisted as a veteran, 
marched with Sherman to the sea, up through the Carolinas and through 
Virginia, to Washington. But, at Louisville, Kentucky, where he had 
been sent for muster-out, a short time before he was to start for home, he 
accidentally wounded himself slightly, as it first appeared, with a hatchet, 
while cutting tent stakes. From this wound he died. 

A study of the roster also reveals the fact that a large number of 
men were wounded in every battle they went into and that, on the con- 



558 HISTORY OF THE 

trary, a large number of others went into every battle and skirmish and 
were not hurt in any of them. In one of the companies, at least, there 
was a man who was wounded in each successive battle, until he was fin- 
ally wounded mortally. In one of the battles his company was detached 
and was not engaged. Being away on some duty when the company was 
detached he did not know of it. When he came up, good soldier that he 
was, he followed the regiment into battle and was wounded, the only one 
of his company exposed to fire that day. 

No regimental roster of the civil war deals justly, however, with a 
large number of individual soldiers. Opposite the names of a large 
number of the Twenty-seventh, it will be observed, there is nothing set 
down except the word "veteran," or the date of muster out. Many of 
these men were in every battle with the regiment, and were always 
present for duty. They were tiptop soldiers in every way. But because 
they did not get wounded or receive promotion, there is nothing said 
about them. That they did not get wounded was not their own fault, 
and that some of them were not promoted was not because they did not 
richly deserve it. Yet the roster not only fails to give men such as these 
credit for anything they did, but it puts them exactly on a par with those 
who found ways of dodging battles and who made blank records in other 
respects. In recent years the rosters and discharge papers of soldiers 
show the battles they were in, whether wounded or not, and also indicate 
something as to the kind of soldiers they were in other respects. 

With respect to tracing on the roster the facts concerning particular 
classes of men, large or small: in one of the companies of the Twenty- 
seventh were two devoted brothers. One of them was killed in the first 
battle they were in, early in the fight. The other not only passed through 
that battle unscathed, but was never touched in any subsecjuent battle, 
though he was in them all. There were many other instances in the 
regiment not far different from this. The writer was under the impres- 
sion that there was an instance where one of two brothers was killed in 
one of the first battles, while the other escaped there and at several other 
places, only to fall in one of the last battles. This he has not been able 
to verify from the roster. 

There were several instances in the Twenty-seventh where three 
brothers were together in the same company. In two instances that the 
writer knows of, personally, the fathers were along in the same company 
with their three sons. In three different Twenty-seventh companies will 
be found six of the same name — six Williamses in Company D, six 
Deputys in Company H and six Kemps in Company K. The latter were 
two sets of brothers, three from each family. The writer has not been 
informed as to the others. 

The roster also shows five Laughlins in Company B, five Whites in 
Company D, five Van Buskirks in Company F and five Feslers in Com- 
pany G. There were four Aliens in Company A and four Smiths and 
four Fiddlers in Company D. Common names were represented in the 
Twenty-seventh, in the aggregate, as follows: Sixteen Smiths, fourteen 
Williams, ten each of Jones and Davis, nine each of Browns and Kemps, 
and seven each of Whites and Evans. 

It can scarcely fail of being a matter of interest to trace on the 



TWENTY-SEVKNTH INDIANA. 559 

roster the fortunes of any two or more names that are the same, and have 
the appearance of being out of the same family. The interest is greatly 
increased if we strive to put ourselves in the places of those whose 
names have attracted our attention and in the places of fathers and 
mothers at home. It is not difficult, then, to imagine how the strain 
increased and the sacrifice became harder to make, as one after another 
fell in battle or died of disease. 

There are several instances where the roster shows that two of the 
same name in the same company, apparently brothers, were both killed, 
either in the same, or different battles. In one instance, at least, two 
pairs of the same name, in the same company, were killed in the same 
battle. The 1st day of May, 1863, was muster for pay. The captain of 
one of our companies, for lack of paper, copied the muster roll on a 
drumhead, and still has that roll. It shows forty-one present for duty. 
Of that number, five were killed and twenty-three were wounded in the 
battle of Chancellorsville, fought the second day after the muster. Of 
eight corporals on that roll, three were killed and two were wounded at 
Chancellorsville, one was killed and one wounded at Gettysburg, just two 
months later, leaving one of the eight, present for duty. Some of the 
companies may have exceeded this. 

The roster of a company is of peculiar interest to one who saw much 
service with the men whose names are upon it. It is a pleasure to him 
-simply to read it over, and he will want to do so occasionally, just for the 
sake of old times. There was a time, most likely, when he could repeat 
the company roll entirely from memory. He remembers distinctly when 
all of the men answered " here," to their names. The very intonations of 
the "orderly's " voice, as he ran the names over so rapidly, and the tone 
of each individual voice in responding " here " — no two of them being 
exactly alike — come back to him from that far-distant past, and it all 
seems as yesterday. He is able also to read between the lines. Not 
only every name of a person, but every place, date and fact as well, is a 
catch-word which as if by magic, recalls incidents and events to his 
mind until he is soon engrossed in the 

" Memories that drift afar 
From those grand old days of war." 

It has been a surprise, as well as a disappointment, to the writer to 
find the material lacking for a complete and satisfactory roster of the 
Twenty-seventh. The same would be largely true of any Indiana regi- 
ment. The data in the adjutant-general's office of the State are both 
incomplete and inaccurate. The names of some well-known members 
of the Twenty-seventh are not found in that ofifice at all, and many very 
important facts concerning a large number are conspicuous by their 
absence. 

The writer has not had access to the records in Washmgton, bearing 
upon the roster of the Twenty-seventh. They are not open, or have not 
been to the general public. From some facts that have come to the 
writer's knowledge, in an incidental way, he has his fears that if pub- 
lished, they will not be as correct as could be desired, with reference to 
this regiment in particular. 



560 HISTORY OK THE 

With the exception of original commissions and the promotions of 
commissioned officers (which itself is not perfect) no record was kept by 
the adjutant-general of Indiana of promotions, and none such was kept 
of wounds, either having reference to officers or men. The main trouble 
with respect to the latter was that no reports of such facts were made to 
that office by the officers of the various regiments, certainly not of the 
Twenty-seventh. When it came to the matter of promotions of non- 
commissioned officers, therefore, and the more important one of wounds 
(and in many cases of deaths) it was necessary, in order to fill out the 
roster of the Twenty-seventh, to go " wool gathering," here and there, 
among published lists in newspapers, records in diaries and wherever 
else the facts were likely to be found in an authentic form. In this the 
utmost care and conscientiousness has been exercised and, as far as the 
roster goes, it cannot lack much of being strictly correct. 

Previous to the battle of Gettysburg, complete lists of the casualities 
in the Twenty-seventh were not published in any Indiana newspaper, as 
far as the writer has been able to learn. The published letters relating to 
Buckton, Winchester, Cedar Mountain, Antietam and Chancellorsville 
were all more or less lacking as to these important facts. For these rea- 
sons, the roster undoubtedly falls short of giving the full number of 
wounds, as it is known to do in giving the full number of promotions of 
non-commissioned officers. But of all things, the roster has not been pad- 
ded in any respect. Only known facts have been given a place in it, and 
no uncertain or doubtful things have been guessed at or manufactured. 

Only a part of the residences of the men, previous to enlistment, 
being given in the Indiana Adjutant-General's report, and so many of those 
given being manifestly incorrect, no attempt to give any such residences 
in the roster has been made. 

The date of muster-in of the original members of the regiment 
has also been omitted. The reason for this will appear in the body of 
the history. The Indiana Adjutant-General's report gives this date as 
September 12, 1861. This was so manifestly unjust in effect, if not in- 
correct in form, that the men who were alive and had not re-enlisted, were 
mustered out September 1,1864. The correct date of muster-in varied 
with different companies, running from the 8th to the 18th of August, 1861. 
The fact of the transfer of the veterans, and recruits with unexpired 
time to serve, to the Seventieth Indiana has likewise been omitted from 
the roster, for brevity's sake. That fact is mentioned in other connections 
and it was not deemed necessary ti) repeat it after each individual name. 

The word " disability " in a roster, as all soldiers will understand, 
means that an examinmg surgeon, or Board of surgeons, had recommended 
a discharge on the ground that the man was not physically able for duty. 
In army phraseology he was given a " Certificate of Disability." 

No soldier of the Civil war will need to be told what is meant by 
the letters V. R. C. They refer to the " Veteran Reserve Corps," an 
organization, brought into existence as the war progressed, composed 
mostly of wounded men, who were still able to do certain kinds of duty, 
such as guarding prisons, warehouses, etc. Instead of discharging men, 
therefore, who were not able to go back to their companies, they were 
transferred to the V. R. C. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 561 

FIELD AND STAFF. 

COLONEL. 

SILAS COLGROVE, promoted from lieutcn;int-coloneI 
Eighth Indiana; commissioned Aug. 30, 1801 ; Military 
Governor of Culpeper county, Virginia ; Post Commander 
at Tullahoma, Tennessee ; commander of brigade at bat- 
tle of Gettysburg ; member of commission for trial of Indi- 
ana conspirators ; promoted brigadier-general by brevet,. 
Aug. 7, 1864; wounded at Chancellorsville and Peach 
Tree Creek, 

LIEUTENANT-COLONELS. 

ARCHIBALD I. HARRISON, promoted from adjutant of 
Eighth Indiana; commissioned Aug. 80, 1861; resigned 
Nov. — , 1861. 

ABISHA L. MORRISON, promoted from captain of Com- 
pany A, Nov. 19, 1861 ; resigned Jan. 11, 1863 ; disability, 

JOHN R. FESLER, promoted from captain of Company 
G, Jan. 12, 1863; commanded regiment at battle of Get- 
tysburg and Peach Tree Creek (after wounding of colo- 
nel) ; with regiment in every battle and skirmish, from 
first to last. Mustered out Nov. 4, 1864. 

MAJORS. 

JOHN MEHRINGER, brought Company K into camp as its. 
captain, but not commissioned ; commissioned major, Aug., 
30, 1861; resigned Jan. 15, 18(52; re-entered service.- 
and attained to rank of brigadier-general by brevet. 

WILLIAM S. JOHNSON, promoted from captain of Com- 
pany C, March 15, 1862; resigned July 10, 18()2. 

GEORGE W. BURGE, promoted from captain of Company 
E, July 11, 1862 ; resigned Feb. 9, 1863. 

THEODORE F. COLGROVE, promoted from adjutaut 
Feb. 27, 1863 ; mustered out Nov. 4, 1864 ; with the regi- 
ment in every battle and skirmish. 

ADJUTANTS. 

ROBERT B. GILMORE, promoted from sergeant of Com- 
pany A ; commissioned Sept. 3, 1861 ; transferred to first 
lieutenant of Company A, 1862; mortally wouiuleil at 
Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862; died Oct. 16, 1862. 

THEODORE F. COLGROVE, promoted from sergeant- 
major, Nov. 19, 1862 ; promoted to major Feb. 27, 1863. 
36 



562 HISTORY OF THE 

WILLIAM W. DOUGHERTY, transferred from first lieut 
tenant of Company H, Feb. 27, 1863; with the regiment 
in every battle. 

(^UAKTEU-M ASTER. 

JAMES M. JAMISON, commissioned Aug. 26, 1861 ; mus- 
tered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

CHAPLAIN. 

REV. THOMAS A. WHITTED, commissioned Sept. 12, 
1861 ; resigned Jan. 4, 1863. 

SURGEONS. 

JARVIS J. JOHNSON, had been captain of Company G ; 

commissioned Sept. 12, 1861; resigned July 30, 1862; 

prisoner at Winchester, Virginia. 
WILLIS II. TWIFORD, promoted from assistant surgeon 

Sept. 27, 1862; resigned July 14, 1864; chief operator 

Twelfth Army Corps, 1863. 
JOHN H. ALEXANDER, promoted from assistant surgeon 

July 15, 1864; mustered out Nov. 4, 1864. 

ASSISTANT SURGEONS. 

'GREEN V. WOOLLEN, commissioned Sept. 7, 1861; 
mustered out Sept. 1, 1864; left in charge of hospital at 
Culpeper, Virginia, Aug., 1862; taken prisoner and held 
as a felon with other officers under General Pope ; after- 
wards released and appointed surgeon-in-chief of Artillery 
Division, Twelfth Army Corps; surgeon in charge of 
Seminary hospital at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, &c., &c. 

WILLIS H. TWIFORD, commissioned June 3, 1862; pro- 
moted surgeon Sept. 27, 1862. 

JOHN II. ALEXANDER, commissioned Sept. 27, 1862; 
promoted surgeon July 15, 1864. 



REGIMENTAL NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF. 

SERGEANT-MAJORS. 

THEODORE F. COLGROVE, appointed Sept. 12, 1861; 
promoted regimental adjutant Nov. 19, 1862. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 503 

WILLIAM W. DOUGHERTY, promoted from private in 
Company G, Nov. 19, 1862 ; promoted to first lieutenant 
of Company H. Jan. 1, 186*5. 

JOHN K. McCASKY, promoted from private in Company 
C, Jan. 1, 1863; promoted to second lieutenant of Com- 
pany I, Feb. 14, 1863. 

JOSEPH E. WHITE, promoted from sergeant of Company 
G, Feb. 14, 1863 ; promoted to second lieutenant of Com- 
pany G, March 13, 1863. 

JAMES R. vSHARP, promoted from corporal of Company 
C, March 18, 1863. Mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

QUARTERMASTER SERGEANT. 

JOHN A. CROSE, promoted from sergeant of Company A, 
Sept. 1, 1861 ; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

COMMISSARY SERGEANTS. 

SIMPSON S. HAMRICK, promoted from sergeant of Com- 
pany A, Sept. 1, 1861 ; promoted to first lieutenant of 
Company A. 

TARVIN C. STONE, promoted from sergeant of Company 
A, Oct. 16-, 1862 ; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

HOSPITAL STEWARDS. 

JAMES M. RAGSDALE, promoted from private of Com- 
pany G; died at Darnestown, Maryland, Oct. 22, 1861. 

DAVID HANSEL, promoted from Company A, Nov., 1861 ; 
Veteran. 

PRINCIPAL MUSICIANS. 

WILLIAM WILCOX, mustered in Sept. 1, 1861; mustered 
out by order of War Department, date unknown. 

JOHN F. TRAFZER, mustered in Oct. 24, 1861 ; mustered 
out with band June, 1862. 

AMERICUS S. APPLEGATE, promoted from fifer of Com- 
pany C, June, 1862 ; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 



Mustered in Oct. 24, 1861 ; mustered out by order of 
War Department June, 1862. 

BENJAMIN F. BRUNER. 
THOMAS CARSON. 
SANFORD M. CU STEIN. 



564 HISTORY OF THE 

THADDEUS W. COLEMAN. 
GEORGE FRIEDMAN. 
JOHN FLEEHART. 
CYRENEUS F. HORTON. 
JOHN M. HAMMOND. 
REUBEN C. HAMMOND. 
OLIVER A. HAMMOND. 
MICHAEL J. JANDEBEUR. 
EZRA F. JACKSON. 
WILLIAM H. KING. 
REDMON LASWELL. 
CHARLES MINHART. 
COLUMBUS G. NEELEY. 
ALFRED A. PALMER. 
MATHIAS SMITH. 
FERDINAND SCHOEMAKER. 
ISEDORE SCHOEMAKER. 
SAMUEL H. STUCKEY. 
JOHN M. STUCKEY. 
FRANCIS V. SCALES. 
WILLIAM C. WARNER. 



COMPANY A. 

Greencastle, the home of Company A, is a university town. Asbury 
University, now known as De Pauw University, was the most largely 
attended, before the Civil war, of any institution of its class in Indiana. 
While a considerable number of Company A did not live in Greencastle, 
several livintj outside of Putnam county, and while the company was 
not "a college company," there were, nevertheless, a sprinkling of men 
in the company who had attended college a longer or shorter period, and 
the influence of the university was clearly traceable in many others. 
The company contained more than the averageof wide-awake, ambitious 
young men, of some education, and of evident force and ability. 

For the first fifteen months or more. Company A was on the right of 
the regiment. It was, therefore, always in the lead when the column 
marched right-in-front. The vision of its comely, soldiery men pressing 
forward, with regular, graceful steps, which, at every sharp turn in the 
road, was afforded to those farther back, is still easily recalled. 

Captain Morrison, afterwards lieutenant-colonel, had seen service in 
the Mexican war. After the first battle of Bull Run he felt called to do 
something, and started out to raise a company, putting his own name 
down at the head of the list. Twelve days later he reported to Governor 
Morton that he had over one hundred men ready, to go into camp. 



TWENTV-SEVEXTII INDIANA. 5G5 

The company left Greencastle August 7, after an open-air dinner 
and a public reception, given them by their friends and the citizens 
generally. There was a great outpouring of people, and aV)undant 
demonstrations of cordiality. Company A has always remained a 
favorite with the residents of Greencastle and Putnam county, being 
accorded a large space in the public prints, as well as in public esteem, 
both of which it has so richly merited. Company I being from the same 
'county, no other regiment is probably more widely known in that 
region, or more generally credited with being a superior organization, 
than the Twenty-seventh. 

Company A was, of course, the first company in the Twenty-seventh 
to arrive with full ranks at Camp Morton. This, it is understood, decided 
in every case the order of the precedence of the companies, and the 
consequent rank of the captains. 

Aside from its rank, Company A always had a prominent standing 
in the regiment. The roster shows that one of its sergeants was made 
regimental adjutant and two others were made regimental commissary 
and quartermaster sergeants, respectively. In due course of promotion, 
also, its captain became lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. 

A few days after its arrival in Camp Morton, the members of Com- 
pany A filed a petition with the Governor, asking to be sent to Terre 
Haute and incorporated into a regiment being organized there, from their 
own congressional district, exclusively. Their wish was not granted, and 
it is to be hoped that the members of the company are now heartily 
glad of it, as the members of the other companies of the Twenty- 
seventh certainly are; though the latter knew nothing of the petition at 
the time. 

The roster of Company A shows a total enrollment, officers and 
men, of 114. Three officers and sixteen men were killed or mortally 
wounded in battle— 1B.<3 per cent. Eleven of the company died of dis- 
ease, accidents, etc., making a total of 30, — or 26.2 per cent. 

In the following roster of Company A, as in the rosters of all the 
other companies, it will be understood that " Transferred to \'. R. C." 
involved subsequent service (in most cases to the end of the period of 
their enlistment) in the Veteran Reserve Corps, the nature of which has 
been explained heretofore. So it will be understood, also, that the word 
"Veteran," following any name, carries with it the fact that that person, 
after serving two years or more, re-enlisted for another period of three 
years. The veterans of the Twenty-seventh were all transferred, after 
the regiment was mustered out, first, to the Seventieth Indiana, and later 
to the Thirty-third Indiana, as has already been stated. They marched 
with Sherman, first to the sea, at Savannah, Georgia, and then up through 
the Carolinas and Virginia, to Washington, U. C. 

ROSTER OF COMPANY A. 

Prepared by Lieut. Rankin, John Bresnahan and others, 
showing promotions, wounds and manner of getting out of 
the company, with dates of same, as far as known. 



566 HISTORY OF THE 

CAPTAINS. 

ABISHA L. MORRISON, commissioned Aug. 80, 1861; 

promoted lieutenant-colonel Nov. 19, 1861. 
JOHN W. WILCOXEN, promoted from first lieutenant 

Nov. 19, 1861 ; wounded at Winchester and Antietam ; 

mustered out Nov. 4, 1864. 

FIRST LIEUTENANTS. 

ROBERT B. GILMORE, promoted from sergeant of Com- 
pany A to adjutant of the regiment Sept. 3, 1861 ; from 
adjutant to first lieutenant of Company A Nov. 19, 1861 ; 
died Oct. 16, 1862; wounds, Antietam. 

SIMPSON S. HAMRICK, promoted from sergeant of Com- 
pany A to commissary sergeant of regiment, Sept. 12, 
1861 ; promoted from commissary sergeant to first lieu- 
tenant of Company A Oct. 17, 1862; killed, Chancellors- 
ville, Virginia, May 3, 1868. 

SAMUEL D. PORTER, promoted corporal, to sergeant, to 
orderly sergeant, to second lieutenant, Sept. 18, 1861 ; to 
first lieutenant May 4, 1868; wounded, Antietam and 
Elk River ; discharged April 18, 1864. 

JOHN R. RANKIN, promoted from private to orderly ser- 
geant ; to first lieutenant April 19, 1864 ; wounded at 
Gettysburg; mustered out Nov. 1, 1864. 

SECOND LIEUTENANTS. 

JOHN F. PARSONS, commissioned Aug. 30, 1861; re- 
signed Dec, 1861. 

WILLIAM VANORSDALL, promoted from sergeant to or- 
derly sergeant; to second lieutenant Feb. 7, 1862; killed, 
Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862. 

ORDERLY SERGEANTS. 

PHILBURD S. WRIGHT, reduced to the ranks unjustly ; 
discharged Dec. 18, 1862; wounded in leg at Antietam. 

WILLIAIM ALLEN, promoted from sergeant to orderly ser- 
geant April 1, 1862; killed, Cedar Mountain, Virginia, 
Aug. 9, 1862. 

JOSEPH T. DENNIS, promoted from sergeant to orderly 
sergeant; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 507 

SERGEANTS. 

JOHN A. CROSE, promoted quartermaster sergeant of reg- 
iment. 

TARVIN C. STONE, promoted to commissary sergeant of 
regiment; mustered out Sept. 1, 18G4. 

NOAH ALLEE, promoted from corporal to sergeant, Feb. 
1, 1862 ; killed at Cedar Mountain, Virginia, Aug. 9, 18G2. 

BENJAMIN F. CROSE, promoted from corporal to ser- 
geant, June 1, 1862; discharged, disability, April 24,. 
1863. (Died before reaching home.) 

JOSEPHUS B. GAMBOLD, promoted from corporal to ser- 
geant ; wounded in hand, New Hope Church, Georgia j 
mustered out Sept. 1, 1804. 

CORPOUAI.S. 

JAMES BALLARD, promoted to corporal Sept. 1, 1861 r 

wounded in thigh, Antietam, Sept. 17, 1802; killed, 

Chancellorsville, May 3, 1803. 
CHARLES M. BOWEN, wounded in leg, Antietam. Sept. 

17, 1802; amputation ; discharged Sept. 8, 1863. 
SPENCER C. MONNETT, discharged March 14, 1863, for 

wound in left shoulder, Antietam. 
JACOB MICHAEL, killed, Winchester, Virginia, May 25, 

1862. 
WILLIAM O. KENYON, killed, Chancellorsville, May 3, 

1863. 
CHRISTOPHER C. SHOWALTER, wounded in right 

leg, Antietam ; killed, Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. 
MANUEL NICE WANDER,' wounded in head, Cedar 

Mountain ; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOSEPH N. BILL, promoted to sergeant Nov. 12, 1863; 

veteran. 
MARION J. ALLEE, wounded at Antietam, Chancellors- 
ville, Gettysburg, Resaca and Peach Tree Creek ; veteran. 

(Died from an accidental wound received at Louisville, 

Kentucky, July, 1865.) 
GEORGE TINCHER, wounded, Gettysburg ; veteran. 

I'RIV'ATES. 

WILLIAM T. AKERS, mustered out Sept. 4, 1804. 
ASBURY ALLEN, discharged May 11, 1863 ; disability. 
GEORGE W. ALLEX, discharged Dec. 15, 1862: disability. 



568 HISTORY OF THE 

JAMES ALLEN, killed, railroad accident near Alliance, 

Ohio, Sept. 16, 1861. 
GEORGE BALES, killed, Gettysburg, Pa., July 8, 1868. 
WILLL\M BALES, veteran. 
AMBROSE D. BETTIS, transferred V. R. C, Aug. 24, 

1864. 
JOHN BRESNAHAN, wounded, Antietam; discharged 

March 8, 1864; loss of right arm at Chancellorsville. 
HENRY BROWN, deserted, vSept. 17, 1862. 
JAMES M. BROWN, recruit ; transferred to Seventieth Reg- 
iment. 
WILLIAM H. BRANN, discharged Oct. 81, 1862; wounds 

at Antietam. 
WOODSON J5RYANT, capfured at Winchester, veteran ; 

mustered out July, 1865. 
WILLIAM BURCH, discharged Nov. 21, 1862 ; disability. 
HIRAM BUSBY, captured at Winchester; discharged Oct. 

5, 1868; wound at Chancellorsville. 
FRANCIS BUTLER, wounded, Antietam; transferred to 

regulars January 15, 1863. 
JOHN S. D. DAY, transferred to regulars, Nov. 28, 1862. 
JAMES DEWITT, captured at Winchester; killed at Chan- 
cellorsville, May 8, 1868. 
WILLIS DEWITT, discharged Dec. 11, 1862 ; disability. 
GEORGE II. DODD, transferred V. R. C. ; mustered out 

Sept. 4, 1864. 
WILLIAM DODSON, wounded, Cedar ^Mountain and siege 

of Atlanta; veteran. 
SIMPSON EVANS, discharged Oct. 28, 1862; wound in 

right shoulder at Cedar Mountain. 
HENRY G. EVANS, transferred to regulars Oct. 27, 1862. 
WILLIAM ELLIOTT, veteran. 
SAMUEL FELLOWS, wounded in head at Gettysburg; 

transferred V. R. C. 
JAMES M. FOSS, discharged Oct. 22, 1862; wounds at 

Antietam. 
ERI A. GAM BOLD, wounded Antietam, veteran. 
CHARLES W. GIBBONS, wounded Cedar Mountain ; died 

Baltimore, Md., June 11), 1868, small pox. 
EVAN T. G RIDER, discharged January 7, 1868, wound at 

Cedar Mountain. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INOIANA. 509 

JASPER II. IIADDEN, killed at Antietam, Sept. 17, 1S02. 
JOHN W. HANSELL, killed at Antietam, Sept. 17, 16Gl>. 
DAVID HANSELL, promoted hospital steward; veteran. 
JAMES T. HARDEN, wounded New Hope Church, May 

25, 1864, veteran, 
ALEXANDER IIINKLE, transferred to re^mlars, Nov. 2Ji, 

1862. 
THADDEUS HUNT, killed, Gettysburg, Pa., July 8, 1863. 
WILLIAM II. HOSTETTER, mustered out September 1, 

1864. 
FRANCIS M. HUTCHINGS, transferred to regulars, Nov 

28, 1862. Killed at battle of Opecjuon, \'a. Sept. 19, 

1864. 
JESSE JACKSON, died March 27, 1862, Winchester, Va., 

pneumonia. 
ELIJAH JENKINS, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
LINDSEY LAMB, veteran. 

BENJ. F. LANDIS, mustered out September 1, 1864. 
PHILIP A. LANE, discharged Nov. 18, 1862 ; wound of 

right arm, Antietam. 
JOHN LAYTON, killed at Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862. 
SYLVESTER LAYTON, captured at W^inchester, died of 

chronic diarrhoea and debility, Annapolis, Md., Dec. 27, 

1862. 
JOHN LEWIS, veteran. 
JESSE C. McCOY, died of erysipelas, Frederick, Md., March 

12, 1862. 
MARION MONNETT, discharged May 19, 1862; disability. 
WILLIAM McGREW, veteran. 

WARDEN T. MERCER, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
HENRY A. MOVERS, wounded in foot at Antietam ; killed 

at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1861. 
THOMAS PEARSON, discharged Nov. 26, 1862, disability. 
RICHARD A. PROCTOR, killed at Cedar Mountain, Va., 

Aug. 9, 1862. 
VALENTINE PROCTOR, transferred V. R. C. ; wounds, 

at Chancellorsville. 
JASPER N. PARSONS, discharged for disability Dec. 2, 

1861. 
VAN L. PARSONS, discharged for di>abilitv Jan. 1 1. ls62. 



570 HISTORY OF THE 

WILLIAM M. PARSONS, wounded June 22, 1864 ; mus- 
tered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JOHN J. PALMER, died of typhoid fever, Darnestown, 
Maryland, Nov. 12, 1861. 

NOAH J. PALMER, captured at Winchester; wounded in 
shoulder at siege of Atlanta; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JOHN B. PRICHARD, veteran. 

ABRAHAM PATTERSON, recruit; discharged for disa- 
bility, Maryland Hights, Oct. 28, 1862. 

CHARLES R. RAWLINGS, died of typhoid fever, Darnes- 
town, Maryland, Nov. 20, 1861. 

HENRY RUTHERFORD, discharged Jan. 29, 1863; 
wound at Antietam. 

THOMAS ROBERTS, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

HENRY A. RUSSELL, a Maryland recruit ; deserted May 
28, 1862. 

PATRICK RYAN, recruit; captured at Winchester; dis- 
charged April 24, 1863, Stafford Court House, Virginia ;. 
disability. 

LEVI M. SHO WALTER, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JAMES S. STEELE, discharged Jan. 10, 1863; wounded 
at Antietam. 

JOHN W. SMITH, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

WILLIAM L. SMITH, recruit ; transferred to Seventieth 
Indiana, Nov. 4, 1864. 

JOSEPH H. SMITH, recruit; wounded at Antietam and 
Resaca. 

JAMES E. SMYTHE, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

DAVID STEWARD, died of general debility, Smoketown, 
Maryland, Dec. 24, 1862. 

WILLIAM STEWART, wounded, New Hope Church, Ga. ; 
veteran. 

JOHN L. MESLER, veteran. 

STEPHEN HARVEY, deserted Aug. 9, 1862. 

SAMUEL M. STIGGLEMAN, discharged for disability 
Jan. 14, 1862. 

PIENRY SQUIRE, veteran ; shot tlirough breast at Antie- 
tam ; also wounded at Chancellorsville and captured at 
Peach Tree Creek. 

WILLIAM H. TURNER, died of rheumatism and debility, 
Frederick, Maryland, Dec. 24, 1862. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. jjTl 

SAMUEL J. WALN, veteran. 

W. W. WARNER, wounded, Cliancellorsville ; veteran. 

THOMAS WELLS, captured at Winchester; wounded, 
Gettysburg; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

ELIJAH H. WILKINSON, taken prisoner at Cedar Mount- 
ain ; wounded in groin at Cliancellorsville; also wounded 
at Resaca ; veteran. 

CHARLES E. WISHMIER, wounded at Cedar Mountain ; 
killed at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 8, 1868. 

DANIEL B. WATTS, recruit; transferred to Seventieth Reg- 
iment, Nov. 4, 1864. 

JOHN G. WILSON, recruit ; transferred to Seventieth Reg- 
iment, Nov. 4, 1864. 

MICHAEL P. VORIS, recruit; transferred to Seventieth 
Regiment, Nov. 4, 1864. 

HARRISON YOUNG, transferred to V. R. C. ; gunshot 
wound in mouth at Antietam. 

JOHN T.DOUGHERTY, transferred to regulars, Nov. 23, 
1862. 

GEORGE W. MORGAN, recruit ; discharged for disability, 
Nov. 15, 1862. 

EARL MOORE, recruit ; captured at Cedar iVIountain ; died, 
Fairfax Station, Virginia, Jan. 14, 1S68 ; disease. 



COMPANY B. 

This was one of the two companies in the Twenty-seventh accredited 
to Daviess county, though other counties were represented in it. An 
officer of another regiment, who at one time sustained close relations with 
this company, has made the statement that the proportion of thoughtful, 
self-poised men in its ranks was unusual. No better example could be 
found of how the citizens of this Republic stand ready to defend it. A 
call comes to a typical interior village of Indiana. The flag has been 
assailed and the institutions of the country are in danger. The village is 
not a county seat, and lawyers do not abound. But, without delay, a 
physician or two, an equal number of ministers of the gospel, still more 
business men, clerks, school teachers and students promptly enroll their 
names. Enough of the sons of the thrifty farmers in the surrounding 
country, to make one hundred in all, are easily obtained, and the com- 
pany is ready to go into camp. That was our Company B. 

The names of the men indicate that Scotch and Scotch-Irish pre- 
dominated in the company, as in others. Their instinct of patriotism^ 
founded in love of liberty and good government, was, therefore, a matter 
of inheritance; likewise their courage and tenacity of purpose. 

The highly commendable conduct of Company B at Buckton has 



572 HISTORY OF THE 

been noticed heretofore. The company books were lost at that time, 
which has increased the difficulty of preparing a satisfactory roster. As 
the case stands, one hundred and sixteen names are upon its roll. Of 
these, eleven were killed or mortally wounded in battle, while the same 
number died from disease, making a total loss of twenty-two. 

ORIGINAL ROSTER OF COMPANY B. 

With promotions, wounds and manner of getting out of 
company, with dates of same as far as known, 

CAPTAIN. 

JACKSON L. MOORE, commissioned Aug. 30, 1861; re- 
signed Feb. 17, 1802. 

LIEUTENANTS. 

WILLIAM E. DAVIS, commissioned Aug. 80, 1861 ; pro- 
moted captain March 15, 1802; resigned Jan, 9, 1863; 
prisoner from May to Sept., 1862. 

JOHN W, THORNBERG, commissioned Aug. 80, 1861; 
promoted first lieutenant March 15, 1802; promoted cap- 
tain Jan, 10, 1863; transferred to Seventieth Indiana, Nov. 
4, 1864; mustered out June 8, 1865; commanded Com- 
pany I, Seventieth Indiana, on March to the Sea and up 
through the Carolinas ; wounded at Gettysburg, 

SERGEANTS. 

THOMAS W. CASEY, promoted second lieutenant March 

15, 1862 ; promoted first lieutenant January 10, 1863 ; 

wounded, Gettysburg ; mustered out Nov. 11, 1864; ex. 

term. 
WILLIAM HUBBARD, promoted second lieutenant Jan. 

10, 1863 ; discharged Dec. 12, 1803 ; wounds at Chancel- 

lorsville. 
IRA BRASHEARS, discharged June 17, 1803; loss of right 

arm at Chancellorsville. 
JACOB RAGLE, promoted orderly sergeant; discharged 

1802 (precise date unknown) ; disease. 
JOHN G. LITTLE, mustered out Sept. 1, 1804. 

CORPORALS. 

PETER RAGLE, promoted sergeant; wounded, Resaca ; 
veteran. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 573 

MICHAEL WALLICK, promoted serpjeant ; captured at 
Buckton, Va. ; wounded at Resaca ; mustered out vSept., 
1864. 

LEWIS KETCH AM, discharged at Camp Ilalleck, Sept. 20, 

1862, disability. 

ELISHA GUTHRV, wounded, Buckton ; killed Gettysburg, 

Pa., July 3, 1863. 

WILLIAM J. WILSON, discharged 1862 (date unknown) ; 
disability. 

JOHN RUvSSELL, captured Buckton, Va. ; mustered out 

Sept. 1, 1864. 
SILAS P. WAGONER, discharged 1862; sickness. 

PRIVATES. 

JOHN E. HAYS, promoted corporal, sergeant and first ser- 
geant ; veteran. 

JOHN R. DUNLAP, musician; discharged Jan., 1862, disa- 
bility. 

JAMES T. McHOLLAND, musician ; transferred to V. R. 
C. ; infirmity. 

GEORGE E. DAVIS, teamster, died Dec. 12, 1861, disease. 

JOSEPH ACHOR, took transfer to regulars, 1862. 

DUNCAN ACHOR, discharged for wounds at Resaca. 

MILTON L. ALLEN, wounded Buckton, discharged Jan. — , 

1863, disability. 
THOMAS ANDERSON, veteran. 

DANIEL ARFORD, discharged, 1862; wounded at An- 
tietam. 

STEPHEN BORDMAN, died Nov. 12, 1861, disease. 

ALONZO C. BUGHER, wounded siege of Atlanta, mus- 
tered out Sept., 1864. 

ENOCH M. BRUNER, veteran. 

THOMAS R. BRUNER, transferred V. R. C. 

THOMAS BOWERS, discharged 1862, disability. 

BENJAMIN F. CHESTNUT, died Nov. 27, 1861, measles. 

WILLIAM S. CHESTNUT, transferred V. R. C, cause not 
stated; inustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JOHN W. CUNNINGHAM, discharged 1862, disease. 

GEORGE M. CRTTCIILOW, wounded Cedar ^fountain ; 
veteran. 

JAMES COATS, mustered out with regiment, September 1, 
1864. 



574 HISTORY OF THE 

THOMAS CHILES, mustered out with regiment, September 

1, 1864. 
ALEXANDER CALLAHAN, wounded siege of Atlanta ; 

veteran. 
WILLIAM COX, veteran. 
WILLIAM R. CARSON, killed at Cedar Mountain, Va., 

Aug. 9, 1862. 
JONAS DAVIS, captured at Buckton; veteran. 
ANDERSON DICHERT, killed at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 

1864. 
JAMES P. P. DENTON, wounded at Buckton, Gettysburg, 

and New Hope Church ; veteran. 
THOMAS J. EATON, discharged 1862, disease. 
JOSEPH EDWARDS, teamster, mustered out Sept., 1864. 
WILLIAM J. FLINN, wounded Antietam, killed New Hope 

Church, Ga., May 25, 1864. 
WILLIAM M. FLINN, wounded at Gettysburg; veteran. 
MARTIN FIDLER, discharged 1861, disease. 
LEVI F. FAITH, wolmded Antietam, Gettysburg and Res- 
aca ; veteran . 
GEORGE W. GORE, wounded New Hope Church ; veteran. 

Captured five Confederates. 
JOSHUA GAUGH, died Philadelphia, Pa., May 14, 1862, 

disease. 
JOHN HUBBARD, wounded Antietam ; took transfer to 

another regiment. 
WILLIS HUBBARD, captured at Buckton, died Belle Isle, 

\'a., prisoner. 
JOSEPH C. HANNAH, wounded at Antietam. 
WILLIAM HANNAH, mortally wounded New Hope 

Church; died Chattanooga, Tenn., June 12, 1864. 
ROBERT IIERRON, discharged 1863; wounds at Chancel- 

lorsville. 
JOHN S. HACKLER, died of measles, 1861. 
GEORGE W. HERRONDON, wounded Antietam ; died 

September 19, 1864; wounds Siege of Atlanta. 
HIRA^SI HORRALL, wounded Chancellorsville and Resaca ; 

mustered out with regiment, Sept. 1, 1864. 
HIRAM HULAN, took transfer to regulars. 
HENRY HARRIS, transferred to hospital, sick 1861 ; no 

further report 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. • 575 

ISAIAH IIOVERSTOCK, died StafTord Court House, Vu., 

18G8. 
ANDREW J, KELLER, veteran. 
HIRAM KINNEMAN, teamster part of time ; wounded at 

Antietam ; mustered out with reojiment, Sept. 1, 18G4. 
MICHAEL KELLER, veteran ; wounded Gettysburg. 
SAMUEL KINT, discharged 1864, from Chattanooga. 
DORY KINNEMAN, transferred to navy, 18(32. 
CHARLES LUTZ, discharged 1862, disease. 
JAMES O. LAUGHLIN, wounded at Buckton ; transferred 

to V. R. C. ; wounds at Antietam. 
JOSEPH H. LAUGHLIN, mustered out with regiment, Sept. 

1, 1864. 
JOHN D. LAUGHLIN, mustered out with regiment Sept. 

1, 1864. 
JACOB LAWYER, mustered out with regiment Sept. 1, 

1864. 
WILLIAM LAUX, captured at Buckton; transferred to V. 

R. C, wounds at Antietam. 
MICHAEL LITTEN, discharged 1862, disability. 
HARRISON LEE, wounded at Resaca ; mustered out Sept. 

1, 1864. 
WILLIAM B. MATHEWS, captured at Buckton ; killed, 

Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863. 
JOHN MORATTA, captured at Buckton ; veteran. 
DANIEL L. McCARTER, wounded at Buckton, Antietam 

and Gettysburg; mustered out with regiment Sept. 1, 

1864. 
WILLIAM McMULLEN, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
GEORGE NUGENT, disappeared; suspected of desertion. 
JOHN NUGENT, discharged, 1862, disability. 
BARTLETT O'CALLAHAN, captured near Winchester; 

mustered out Sept. 1. 1864. 
McHOWEL POINDEXTER, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
HENRY L. PITMAN, promoted corporal ; discharged 1862, 

disability. 
CRAIG STOTTS, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOHN W. SUMNER, wounded on Rappahannock in Pope's 

campaign ; discharged 1S62. disability. 
REZIN SUMNER, wounded, Antietam ; mu.stered out Sept. 

1, 1864. 



576 HISTORY OF THE 

JOHN SIIARUM, captured, lUickton, Va. ; discharged. 18G3, 

disability, 
CHARLES W. STANLEY, wounded, Buckton ; captured, 

Winchester; took transfer to U. S. regulars, Oct., 1862. 
GEORGE W. STOUT, killed in rifle pit near Atlanta, Ga., 

Aug. 10, 1864. 
WILLIAM L. SHIVELY, wounded, Antietam ; mustered 

out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOHN SPARKS, wounded and a prisoner at Buckton, Va. ; 

mustered out with regiment Sept. 1, 1864. 
RICHARD TRUEBLOOD, wounded, Peach Tree Creek, 

Ga. ; mustered out with regiment Sept. 1, 1864. 
ANDREW J. VEST, captured, Buckton, Va. ; mustered 

out with regiment Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOSEPH B. S. WILSON, discharged at U. S. hospital ; 

disease. 
JAMES WAGONER, killed, Chancellorsville, Va., May 8, 

1868. 
THOMAS S. WIRTS, took transfer to regulars, 1862. 
DANIEL WEBSTER, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
PIERSON WAGLEY, died, Darnestown, Md., Dec, 1861, 

disease. 
ANDREW J. WILLIAMS, wounded, Antietam ; veteran. 
NEEDHAM WORRALL, discharged, 1861, disease. 
ABNER WILSON, promoted corporal ; wounded, Resaca ; 

mustered out April 1, 1864. 
JAMES WORRALL, discharged, 1862, disability. 

RECRUITS. 

WILLIAM ALFORD, mustered in July 15, 1862. 
CHARLES COMBS, mustered in March 12, 1862; wounded, 

Antietam. 
HARRY M. CORRELL, mustered in July 15, 1862. 
JOHN DEARMIN, mustered in March 10, 1862; discharged 

in 1865. 
RUSSELL DAVIS, mustered in July 15, 1862; wounded, 

Antietam ; transferred to Seventieth Indiana Nov. 4, 

1864. 
HENRY GHRAUN, mustered in July 15, 1862 ; wounded, 

Antietam. 
JAMES F. HERENDEN, mustered in March 81, 1864. 
JOSEPH D. LAUGHLIN, mustered in Aug. 8, 1862. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 577 

JOHN PONTIUS, mustered in Oct. 22, 1SG4 ; mustered out 

July 13, 18G5. 
SANFORD H. SIIIVELY, mustered in Au^r. ]4. i8G2; 

wounded, Antietam. 
JOHN'R. LAUGIILIN, discharged; wounds Antietam. 
CHARLES U. CORRELL, mustered in March 31, 18G4; 

died of sickness near Atlanta, Ga., 1864. 
JOSEPH RICHARDSON, died. Dam No. 4, Maryland, 

1862. 
SAMUEL TODD, killed at Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863. 



COMPANY 6. 

Though known as an Edinburg company, seven counties in Indiana 
and one in Kentucky were represented in Company C, increased by two 
more later on, The company contained a large proportion of bright, 
sprightly young men, with rather mort; than the average of education, 
good manners and personal neatness. It frequently attracted attention 
and was the subject of favorable comment on account of the soldierly 
appearance, both of officers and men. It left Edinburg August 12, 18(51. 
entering Camp Morton the same day. Eor several months at the start 
its officers did what was not the best for themselves; they employed, at 
their own expense, a civilian drill-master to instruct the company. This 
was one Ben Valliquette, of " La Belle France." Like all European 
drill-sergeants, Ben could swear in most of the languages of the globe. 
But he knew also how to smooth the wrinkles out of a raw recruit. As a 
result of his dilligent labors Company C was well up in the drill. 

The fact has already been related that, when Company C became 
Color Company, the people of Edinburg and vicinity provided a beautiful 
and costly silk flag for its use. Its duties in connection with that flag, 
and the fidelity with which it discharged them, doubtless resulted in 
fewer of the company returning from the war. 

Company C was detailed for other duty and did not get into the 
Battle of Cedar Mountain, as previously narrated. If the exceptional 
loss of Company I in that battle (which acted as Color Company) had 
fallen upon Company C, its aggregate battle loss would have been ex- 
treme. As it was, 18 of the 106 men, of all ranks, borne upon its rolls, 
were killed or mortally wounded in battle. It also lost 10 from disease 
and 1 in a rebel prison, making 29 in all — 27.2 per cent. 

For obvious reasons the writer is in possession of some additional 
facts concerning Company C. Twenty of its men either died of disease, 
were discharged for disability, skulked out, or deserted (only three of the 
latter), and were never in battle. Five more were never in battle, for 
other reasons, not discreditable. Hence only eighty-one of the Company 
were ever in battle. To the credit of those eighty-one, therefore, stand 18 
mortal wounds and 66 wounds not mortal. 

These facts are stated, not to disparage other companies, but, rather, 

to show what was true of all, if the facts were obtainable. The probability 
37 



578 HISTORY OK THE 

seems strong that some other companies even exceeded Company C in 
these respects. Other regiments were required to make greater sacrifices 
Jthan the Twenty-seventh. 

ROSTER OF COMPANY C. 

"With recruits, promotions, wounds, etc., and reason of 
'quitting the conipun}-, with dates of same, as far as reported. 

CAPTAINS. 

WILLIAM S. JOHXSOX, commissioned Aug. 30, 1861 ; 
promoted to major March 15, 1862. 

JOSIAH C. WILLIAMS, promoted from second lieutenant 
of Company I Sept. 29, 1862 ; struck by ball on foot at 
Winchester and on leg by piece of shell at Antietam ; 
wounded in thigh at Chancellorsville ; Post Provost inar- 
shal, Tullahoma, Tenn. ; acting Division Provost Marshal 
general ; commander Twelfth Corps headquarters guards ; 
Brigade Provost Marshal on staff of General T. H. Ruger ; 
resigned Oct. 5, 1864. 

FIRST LIEUTENANT. 

ISAAC D. COLLIER, commissioned Aug. 30, 1861; re- 
signed Dec. — , 1861. 

SECOND LIEUTENANT. 

JOHN FORELANDER, commissioned Aug. 80, 1861 ; pro- 
moted first lieutenant Jan. 1, 1862; resigned Sept. 30, 
1862; failure of .sight. 

FIRST SERGEANT. 

JOHN T. BOYLE, resigned to accept position in C. S. de- 
partment Oct.. 1861 ; elected second lieutenant Jan. 1, 
1862; promoted captain April 16, 1862; permitted to re- 
sign under charges of cowardice Sept. 28, 1862. 

SECOND SERGEANT. 

OLIVER P. FURGUSON, promoted first sergeant April 16, 
1862;second lieutenant vSept. 20, 1862; first lieutenant 
Oct. 25, 1862 ; in command of the company at Winches- 
ter, Chancellorsville (after the captain was wounded), 
Gettysburg and on the Atlanta campaign ; regimental 
■ordnance officer ; mustered out Nov. 4, 1864. 



TWENTY-SEVEXTir INDIANA. 570 

THIRD SERGEANT, 

JACOB A. LEE, promoted first sergeant Oct., 1801; second 
lieutenant April IG, 18G2 ; first lieutenant Sept., 1802; 
rendered distinguished service on Banks' retreat ; mortally 
wounded at Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 1802; died at 
Boonsboro, Md., Oct. 24, 1802. 

FOURTH ser(;eaxt. 

NOAH N. SIMS, promoted second sergeant. Company Com- 
missary, entire service. 

FIFTH SERGEANT. 

LEWIS D. PAYNE, Color Sergeant of regiment; mortally 
wounded at Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 1802; died Oct. 25, 
1862 ; place not reported. 

CORPORAI.S. 

WILLIAM P. JONES, reduced to ranks (rather arbitrarily) 
for insubordination ; deserted to enemy March 6, 1862. 

JAMES R. SHARP, company and regimental clerk; pro- 
moted sergeant-major April 12, 1803 ; mustered out Sept. 
1, 1804. 

ROGER S. LONGHERY, promoted sergeant April, 1802; 
second lieutenant Oct. 25, 1802 ; wounded and captured 
at Chancellorsville ; mustered out Nov. 4, 18(j4. 

GEORGE W. WEIR, wounded at Antietam and transferred 
to V. R. C. ; date not reported. 

ISAAC D. HARTER, promoted sergeant April, 1863; 
wounded at Chancellorsville; mustered out Sept. 1, 1804. 

WILLIAM H. BEESON, promoted sergeant Sept. 1, 1803; 
prisoner at Winchester ; wounded at Chancellorsville and 
mortally wounded at New Hope Church ; died at Cass- 
ville, Ga., June, 1864. 

JOHN Q_- A. CARVIN, promoted sergeant Dec. 23, 1802; 
discharged July 15, 1803, for disabling wound at Chan- 
cellorsville. 

WASHINGTON DOREN, on Color Guard ; promoted ser- 
geant Jan. 29, 1803 ; mortally wounded at Chancellors- 
ville, May 3, 1803 ; died May 14, 1803 ; place not re- 
ported. 

PRIVATES. 

AMERICUS S. APPLEGATE, fifer ; promoted Principal 
^Musician of regiment, June, 1862. 



580 HISTORY OF THE 

HIRAM APPLEGATE, drummer, a boy; discharged Feb, 

6, 18G3 ; disability. 
JOSEPH APPLEGATE, discharged Oct. 28, 18G2, for 

wounds at Antietam. 
CHARLES S. APPLEGATE, father of above three, dis- 
charged Jan. 81, 1862; too old for the service. 
ALLEN APPERSON, discharged Oct. 27, 1863, for wounds 

at Gettysburg. 
JOSEPH AIKENS, died at Frederick, Md., Jan. 4, 1862; 

disease. 
ELON ANDREWS, wounded at Gettysburg; mustered out 

Sept. 1, 1864. 
JAMES A. ALEXANDER, wounded at Antietam ; killed at 
Gettysburg, Pa., July 8, 1868, with 12th U. S. Infantry. 
WILLIAM ABBERCROMBIE, a tramp ; deserted at Indian- 
apolis a few days after enlistment. 
THOMAS J. ACTON, wounded at Chancellorsville ; mus- 
tered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOHN ACTON, died Baltimore, Md., Dec. 25, 1861 ; measles. 
EDMUND R. BROWN , promoted to corporal ; declined pro- 
motion to sergeant over those absent wounded ; wounded 
at Antietam ; mustered out Oct. 1, 1864. 
MERRICK S. BROWN, wounded at Antietam and Chan- 
cellorsville ; transferred to V. R. C, date not reported. 
JOHN S. BAKER, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
GODFREY BAKER, died Frederick, Md., Jan. 1, 1862; 

pneumonia. 
JAMES H. BASS, wounded at Antietam ; took transfer to 

regulars, Oct. — , 1862. 
THOMAS BROWNING, discharged Jan. 6, 1868, for wound 

at Antietam. 
JACOB BROWNING, discharged December 1, 1861 ; dis- 
ability. 
JOHN BARGMAN, discharged May 22, 1868, for wound at 

Antietam. 
SAMUEL BEEMER, promoted to corporal and to sergeant;, 
datee not reported; three wounds at Chancellorsville; 
mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JAMES BRADBURN, wounded at Antietam and Gettys- 
burg; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOHN CHEATHAM, killed in front of picket line, near 



TWENTV-SEVEXTH IXDIAXA. 581 

Smithtield, Va., March 18, 1S62 ; first man in the regi- 
ment killed by the enemy. 

WILLIAM J. CLARK, transferred to gunboat service Feb. 
1862. 

HEXRY CRAWFORD, teamster, died at Kelly's Ford, Va., 
Sept. — , 18G3 ; disease. 

STARK CUTSINGER, discharged Jan. 10, 18G3; lost a leg 
at Antietam. 

DANIEL J. COLVIX, mortally wounded at Gettysburg; 
died in 12th Corps hospital, July 6, 1808. 

WILLIAM CLINE, died at Darnestown, Md., Nov. 18, 
1861, measles ; first death in company. 

JAMES CALHOUN, deserter on Winchester retreat ; was 
seen north of the Potomac. 

JOSHUA CHAMBERS, badly wounded at Chancellorsville ; 
discharged for same April 24, 1864. 

JOHN DINN, discharged Dec. 15, 1862, for wound at An- 
tietam. 

JAMES DINN, wounded at Chancellorsville ; veteran. 

WILLIAM DOYLE, discharged March 81, 1868, for severe 
wound at Antietam. 

WILLIAM DEVET, captured at Smithfield, Va.; discharged 
July — , 1862, as a paroled prisoner. 

GEORGE EAST, promoted to corporal; on the Color Guard ; 
Color Bearer; wounded at Antietam and Gettysburg. 

WILLIAM G. EVANS, died at Strasburg, Va., May 21, 
1862 ; disease. 

EMANUEL FULP, wounded at Winchester, Cedar Mount- 
ain (in ranks of another company) and mortally 
wounded at Antietam ; died Nov. 15, 1862 ; place not 
reported. 

ROBERT L. FOSTER, promoted to corporal, to sergeant 
and first sergeant ; dates not reported ; wounded at Get- 
tysburg and New Hope Church ; veteran. 

WILLIAMS! FRY, wounded at Antietam; veteran. 

JACOB FILLMAN, promoted to corporal and sergeant ; 
transferred to V. R. C. for wound at Gettysburg ; date 
not reported. 
JOHN GARDNER, killed at Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862. 

JOSEPH GARRISON, died, Frederick. Md., Jan. 29, 1862; 
pneumonia. 



582 HISTORY OF THE 

WILLIAM GREEN, discharged April — , 1SG4, for loss of 
arm at Chancellorsville. 

DANIEL GREER, wounded at Chancellorsville and New 
Hope Church ; mustered out vSept. 1, 1864. 

ROBERT GEARY, discharged Jan. 18, 1868, for loss of 
hand ; accidental discharge of his gun. 

JOHN E. HART, wounded at Resaca ; veteran. 

JOHN HAND, wounded at Antietam and Gettysburg ; dis- 
charged April 11, 1864, for latter wound. 

JOHN HINCHEE, wounded at Resaca; veteran. 

OLIVER JOHNSON, colonel's orderly and cook ; mustered 
out Se'pt. 1, 1864. 

EDMUND C. JONES, wounded at Antietam and Chancel- 
lorsville; discharged June 30, 1863, for latter wound. 

JOHN JOYCE, wounded at Chancellorsville and Resaca ; 
mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

IRA KYLE, wounded at Front Royal, Va., July 3, 1862 ; dis- 
charged Oct. 25, 1868; wound at Antietam. 

THOMAS J. LAY, wounded at Antietam ; took transfer to 
regulars Nov. — , 1862. 

MARTIN L. LAYMAN, killed at Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862. 

JASPER N. LAYMAN, wounded at Antietam and Chancel- 
lorsville, transferred to V. R. C, date not reported. 

JOHN LEWIS, promoted to corporal ; mortally wounded at 
Antietam; died Sept. 26, 1862, place not reported. 

THOMAS MILLER, discharged Dec. 27, 1862; disability. 

RICHARD MORTZ, court martialed for cowardice at An- 
tietam ; court martialed and drummed out April 18, 1868, 
for theft. 

JOHN K. jSIcCASKY, company and regimental clerk; pro- 
moted to Sergeant-Major Jan. 1, 1868; wounded at Win- 
chester. See Company I. 

JAMES N. McCOWEN, discharged April 26, 1868; dis- 
ability. 

GEORGE W. McGAFFICK, wounded at Resaca; veteran. 

JASPER N. NUGENT, one of the three who stood in line 
of Company C through entire battle of Antietam ; died 
of disease at Stafford Court House, Va., Feb. 16, 1868. 

ALLEN OAKS, transferred to V. R. C. for wound at An- 
tietam ; date not reported. 
DAVID PARKER, wounded at Antietam and Gettysburg; 
transferred to V. R. C. : date not stated. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 58^ 

MORGAN PITCHER, wounded at Chancellorsville; mus- 
tered out Sept. 1, 18G4. 

JOHN H. PARR, killed at Antietam, Sept. 17, 18G2. 

CHARLES F. PLYMATE, detailed as teamster; wounded 
at Resaca ; veteran. 

ALEXANDER I'ICKENS, discharged May 30, 1S62. dis- 
ability. 

EDWARD Q^UILLEN, killed at Winchester, Va., May 25, 
1862. 

NATHAN RICHARDSON, discharged March 18, 18G4, for 
severe wound at Antietam. 

JOHN RUNKLE, promoted corporal ; wounded at Antie- 
tam and Chancellorsville; died of latter wound at Wash- 
ington, D. C, Oct. 25, 18G3. 

EDWIN SPURGEON, wounded at Antietam and New 
Hope Church ; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JEROME SIMS, promoted corporal for gallantry at Antie- 
tam ; on Color Guard; killed at Chancellorsville, Va., 
May 3, 1SG3. 

LOUIS SMITH, wounded at Chancellorsville; mustered out 
Sept. 1, 1864. 

EPHRAIM SHOLL, transferred to V. R. C. for wound at 
Antietam, date not reported. 

WILLIAM SANDIFER, killed at Chancellorsville, Va., 
May 3, 1863. 

JOHN TREADWAY, wounded at Antietam; mustered out 
Sept. 1, 18G4. 

JOHN B. VANCLEIF, promoted to corporal ; wounded at 
Chancellorsville ; veteran. 

JOHN WELLS, wounded at Antietam; mustered out Sept. 
1, 1864. 

JESSE WELLS, killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863. 

WILLIAM WAYLAND, discharged Jan. 6, 1863, for 
wound at Antietam. 

DAVID WAYLAND, wounded at Antietam and Chancel- 
lorsville; transferred to V. R. C. for latter wound, date 
not reported. 

LUTHER WINDSHIP, company teamster; died Frederick, 
Md., Dec. 31, 1861, di.sease. 

LEVI W. WILLIS, promoted to corporal April 1, 1863; 
transferred to V. R. C. for wounds at Gettysliurg. 

JOHN YOUNG, veteran. 



584 HISTORY OF THE 

JOHN ZIGLER, promoted to corporal for gallantry at An- 
tietam ; killed at Chancellorsville, Va., May 8, 1863. 

RECRUITS. 

JAMES C. ROUSE, mustered in Jan. 8, 1862; promoted to 
corporal ; discharged Jan. 1, 1863, for wound at Antietam. 

WILLIAM TREADWAY. mustered in June 28, 1862 ; cap- 
tured at New Hope Church, Ga. ; died in prison at An- 
derson ville, date unknown. 

JAMES ELLIOTT, mustered in April 1, 1862 ; died of dis- 
ease at Bridgeport, Ala., March 14, 1864, while on detail 
with Battery M, First New York Light Artillery. 

JOHN ELLIOTT, mustered in April 1, 1862; wounded at 
Chancellorsville. 

COMPANY D. 

In the office of the Adjutant-General of Indiana, the residences of 
all original members of Company D is recorded as Lawrence county. 
This was true of most, but not all. The fact has been mentioned hereto- 
fore that several from Jackson county were in the company. There were 
also a few from other counties. 

There was also considerable diversity in this company with respect 
to occupation and plans of life, perhaps more than in others. The county 
seat of Lawrence county has given its name to the celebrated Bedford 
stone, now used over a wide area of the country. The stone industry had 
not attamed to the gigantic proportion in that region before the war that 
it has since. Still, for that reason and others, this company differed some- 
what from other companies in the character of its men. This did not 
militate against their character as soldiers, however, or against the service 
they rendered. 

The company left Bedford August 12, 186L The men spent that 
night under the trees in the State House ground at Indianapolis, entering 
Camp Morton the next morning. The roster shows a total enrollment of 
120. It lost 22 in battle and 14 from disease and other causes, a total loss 
of 86. Fourteen members of the company took transfers to the regulars 
in 1862. There were also a large number transferred to the \'. R. C. at 
various times. 

ORIGINAL ROSTER OF COMPANY D. 

Giving promotions, wounds, and manner of getting out 
of company, with dates of same as far as reported. 

CAPTAINS. 

THEODORE E. BUEHLER, commissioned Aug. 80, 1861 ; 
resigned May 23, 1862. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INIDANA. 585 

JOHN A. CAS ADA Y, promoted from first lieutenant Com- 
pany E, April 16, 1862 ; killed at Chancellorsville May 3, 
1863. 

THO]MAS J. BOX, promoted from first lieutenant May 4, 
1863; wounded at Gettysburg; promoted from first ser- 
geant to second lieutenant June 2, 1862; from second 
lieutenant to first lieutenant June 2, 1862 ; wounded 
through chest and prisoner at Cedar Mountain. 

FIRST-LIEUTENANTS. 

JAMES M. KERN, commissioned Aug. 30, 1861 ; resigned 

Dec, 1861. 
THOMAS PETERS, commissioned Feb. 14, 1862; resigned 

May 29, 1862. 
GEORGE H. STEPHENSON, commissioned March 29, 

1864; lost right arm, Resaca ; mustered out Nov. 4, 1864. 

SECOND-LIEUTENANTS. 

MEREDITH W. LEACH, commissioned Aug. 80, 1861 ; 
died Dec, 1861; disease. 

DANIEL R. CONRAD, promoted from corporal ; commis- 
sioned Jan. 4, 1862; died Jan., 1862; pneumonia. 

JOSEPH BALSLEY, promoted from first sergeant June 2, 
1862; wounded at Gettysburg and Antietam ; promoted 
to captain Company H Dec. 11, 1868. 

SERGEANTS. 

THOMAS W. PETERS, promoted first lieutenant. 

THOMAS J. BOX, pron-.oted second lieutenant, etc 

JOHN PALMER, discharged Jan. 15, 1868, wounds at An- 
tietam. 

SILAS N. WHITLER, wounded Cedar Mountain; dis- 
charged March 7, 1863, wounds at Antietam. 

STEPHEN J. REYBURN, Avounded Antietam; died Aug. 
1, 1868; wounds at Gettysburg. 

CORPORALS. 

WILLIAM K. REYNOLDS, discharged June 8, 1862, dis- 
ability. 

JOHN REID, veteran ; transferred vSeventieth and Thirty- 
third Indiana. 



586 HISTORY OF THE 

AUSTIN N. WILDER, wounded Cedar Mountain Aug. 9, 

1862; discharged March 7, 1863, wounds at Antietam. 
JOHN BRIDWELL, discharged, wounds at Antietam. 
JAMES RIGGINS, discharged Oct. 24, 1862. 
ANDREW J. BANKS, discharged May 8, 1862; disability. 
DANIEL R. CONRAD, promoted second lieutenant. 
SAMUEL F. KERN, died Feb. 1, 1862; pneumonia. 

PRIVATES. 

SAMUEL R. LEWIS, musician; went into ranks; killed at 
Gettysburg July 3, 1863. 

FLAVIUS POTTER, musician ; took transfer to regulars^ 
Oct., 1862. 

JAMES M. SEIBERT, wagoner; went into ranks; pro- 
moted corporal and sergeant ; wounded at Gettysburg ;. 
mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JAMES ALEXANDER, discharged Oct. 29, 1863; wounds,. 
Chancellorsville. 

HENRY ALLBRIGHT, died June 7, 1862 ; wounds, Win- 
chester. 

ISAAC R. ALLEN, took transfer to regulars Oct. 24, 1862, 

ENOCH ANDERSON, died July 11, 1863. 

WILLIAM B. ATCHINSON, killed on Mississippi Flotilla 
Jan. 15, 1862. 

JOSEPH BALSLEY, promoted sergeant, orderly sergeant 
and second lieutenant. 

BLOOMFIELD BEAVERS, killed Cedar Mountain, Va., 
Aug. 9, 1862. 

JOHN BOWDEN, died Feb. 5, 1862; disease. 

HERMAN H. BOSSE, discharged Oct. 24,1862; reason 
not reported. 

ROBERT BRANNUM, deserted Aug. 14, 1862. 

Wn.LIAM BRANNUM, deserted Aug. 15, 1862. 

JOHN BROTHERS, died June 2, 1862; disease. 

JAMES BURK, wounded, Antietam; veteran. 

ELISHA B. CALLAHAN, discharged Dec. 17, 1862: dis- 
ability. 

DAVID CARTER, died Evansville, Ind., July 10, 1864; 
disease. 

BRISON CARTER, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

EDWARD M. GAVINS, killed, Chancellorsville, Va., May 
3, 1863. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 587 

ELIHU CLAMPITT, wounded and captured at Winchester, 
Va., May 25, 1862; mustered out Feb. 13, 1803; dis- 
ability. 

JONATHAN A. COOPER, discharged ; wounds at Chan- 
cellorsville. 

ELIJAH S. CRAWFORD, discharged Sept. 27, 1862; 
wounds, Cedar Mountain. 

JAMES H. CULBERTSON, killed at Cedar Mountain, Va., 
Aug. 9, 1862. 

JOHN DAVIS, discharged Dec. 27, 1863; disability. 

Leonard DAVIS, discharged June 11,1862; disability. 

PERRY DAVIS, died 1863; disease. 

LEROY S. DODD, discharged Dec. 10, 1861; disability. 

GEORGE W. DONICA, killed at Chancellorsville, Va., 
May 8, 1863. 

JAMES DODSON, discharged Aug. 3, 1863. 

FRANCIS M. DOUGLAS, discharged Feb. 16, 1868; 
wounds, Antietam. 

CHRISTOPHER C. FIDDLER, discharged, for wounds at 
Antietam. Date not reported. 

JOHN W. FIDDLER, took transfer to regulars Oct. 14, 
1862. 

WILLIAM FIDDLER, died Oct. 5, 1862, wounds at An- 
tietam. 

JOHN P. GARRETT, discharged, wounds at Gettysburg. 

TERRELL W. GERBERT, took transfer to regulars Sept. 
24, 1862. 

JOHN A. HENSHAW, killed at Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 
1862. 

EDWARD A. HOSKINS, discharged Dec. 17, 1862; dis- 
ability. 

PETER ISAAC, captured at Winchester, Va.,May 25, 1862; 
died in prison, Lynchburg, Va., July 28, 1862. . 

JOHN M. JACKSON, took transfer to regulars Oct. 24, 1862. 

CLEMENS JOHNSON, discharged Nov. 20, 1862; wounds 
at Cedar Mountain. 

JAMES M. JOHNSON, wounded, Resaca ; mustered out 
Oct. 6, 1864. 

THOMAS M. KERR, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JOHN W. KNIGHT, took transfer to regulars Oct. 24, 1862. 

WILLIAM LEWIS, killed at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3^ 
1863. 



588 HISTORY OF THE 

JAMES LITTEN, took transfer to regulars Oct. 24, 1862. 

JOSEPHUS D. LYXX, killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 
18G8. 

TIMOTHY MORAX, took transfer to regulars Oct. 24, 1862. 

WILLIAM E. MULKY, died Washington, D. C, Sept. 19, 
18G8 ; wounds at Chancellorsville. 

ASA XEAL, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

HEXRY XEIMAN, transferred to V. R. C. 

FRAXCIS M. XICHOLAS, took transfer to regulars Oct. 
24, 1862. 

THOMAS XL^GEXT, promoted second lieutenant of Com- 
pany H. 

WILLIAM PATTERSOX, discharged April 24, 1868 ; dis- 
ability. 

DAXIEL PHILLIPS, transferred to V. R. C. July 1, 1863; 
wounds at Antietam. 

GEORGE W. PHILLIPS, discharged April 24, 1863; 
wounds at Antietam. 

H. C. F. L. PHALMAX, discharged Dec. 24, 1862; dis- 
ability. 

EBEXEZER Q^UACKEXBUSH, mustered out September 
1, 1864. 

EDWARD E. REYNOLDS, wounded Xew Hope Church ; 
mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

ADAM SCHARDEIN, died June 18,1862; wounds Win- 
chester, Va., May 25, 1862. 

HEXRY LOUIS SCHNEIDER, discharged April 18, 1863; 
disability. 

SAMUEL SIMPSOX, wounded Resaca; discharged Sept. 1, 
1864. 

GEORGE A. SKIXXER, took transfer to regulars, Oct. 24, 
1862. 

WESLEY SLIDER, died April 3, 1863; disease. 

HEZEKIAH SMITH, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

LORENZO DOW SMITH, discharged Jan. 5, 1863, dis- 
ability. 

WILLIAM A. SMITH, deserted April 4, 1863. 

WILLIAM H. SMITH, killed Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 
1862. 

WILLIAM D. STEEL, wounded Resaca; veteran. 

GEORGE H. STEPHENSON, promoted corporal, sergeant 
and first lieutenant; wounded Gettysburg. 



i 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 589' 

WILLIAM n. STEVENSON, promoted corporal ; wounded 

Resaca ; veteran. 
JOHN SUTTON, deserted June 17, 1802. 
LEWIS B. THOMPSON, took transfer to regulars Oct. 24, 

1862. 
WILLIAM THOMPSON, deserted Aug. 14, 1862. 
NATHAN TINDER, died Feb. 11, 1802; disease. 
ELIJAH TUNNEY, promoted corporal and sergeant ; died 

July 6, 1808; wounds at Gettysburg, Pa. 
SASHWELL TURNER, took transfer to regulars Oct. 24, 

1862. 
SMITH TURNER, discharged May 6, 1803; disability. 
PETER UNPHRESS, killed Gettysburg, Pa., July 8, 1868. 
ABRAHAM WAUGHTELL, veteran. 

ELIHU U. WELLS, took transfer to regulars Oct. 24, 1862 
ADAM WILLIAMS, died Dec. 9, 1861; disease. 
LABAN WILLIAMS, killed, Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1868 
RUFUS WILLIAMS, wounded at Gettysburg and New 

Hope Church; mustered out Sept; 1, 1864. 
JOHN YOUNGER, captured, Winchester; died in prison at 

Lynchburg, Va. , Sept. 10, 1862. 

RECRUITS. 

JOHN L. ASHER, mustered March 22, 1864; wounded 
Resaca. 

CHARLES M. ASH, mustered Sept. 2, 1862; wounded 
Resaca. 

GEORGE W. BERKSHIRE, discharged Oct. 1, 1862; dis- 
ability. 

WILLIAM H. BRYANT, mustered Sept. 2, 1862. 

SAMUEL A. DUGAN, mustered Dec. 11, 1862. 

JOSEPH FIDDLER, killed Antietam, Md., September 17, 
1862. 

ELIAS GRACE, died Dec. 12, 1862, wounds at Antietam. 

RICHARD H. GREENWOOD, mustered Aug. 25, 1862. 

THOxMAS HALL, killed, Gettysburg, Pa., July 8, 1868. 

JOHN KIMBREL, deserted May 8, 1868. 

BENJ. F. KILGORE, mustered July 15, 1862; promoted 
corporal, sergeant and first sergeant: wounded at Gettys- 
burg and Resaca. 

JOSEPHUS D. MYERS, discharged April 7, 1868; wounds 
at Antietam. 



590 HISTORY OF THE 

JOHN PARK, mustered April 4, 1864. 

MICHAEL SEEGAR, died June 27, 1862. 

GEORGE WILLIAMS, took transfer to regulars, October, 

1802. 
DANIEL B. WILLIAMS, mustered Aug. 15, 1862; promoted 

corporal ; wounded Antietam and Gettysburg ; mustered 

out Sept. 1, 1864. 
ELDRIDGE WILLIAMS, mustered Aug. 15, 1862; died 

Nov. 12, 1862; wounds at Antietam. 
ELIJAH WHITE, mustered Sept. 6, 1862 ; captured rebel 

ilag at Resaca. 

COMPANY E. 

The writer has misgivings about doing full justice to Company E. 
Its members have appeared to be worse dispersed than those of other 
companies, and those accessible have-not been able to furnish the neces- 
sary data. Available records have also appeared to be less complete con- 
cerning this company than others. The astounding fact has developed 
that the names of several bona fide members of the company are not 
found in Terrell's reports. This has been accounted for by the statement 
that when the company was first mustered in more than the maximum 
number of men were present, and that these were taken along anyway, 
their names being added to the roll as fast as vacancies occurred. With 
respect to promotions and wounds the writer is persuaded that the roster 
of Company E is less complete than others, incomplete as all others are. 

All told, 122 different names are upon Company E's roster. Its 
battle loss was 18, and its loss from disease, etc., 10. The company reports 
26 veterans, a larger number than any other company. 

Three women, related to some of the members of Company E, went 
out with the company, and remained with it for several months. 

ORIGINAL ROSTER OF COMPANY E. 

With recruits, promotions, wounds, etc., and manner of 
quitting the company, with date of same, as far as reported. 

CAPTAINS. 

GEORGE W. BURGE, commissioned Aug. 30, 1861 ; pro- 
moted major July 11, 1862 ; Provost-Marshal of Culpeper, 
Va. ; wounded at Cedar Mountain ; resigned February 9 
1868. 

GEORGE W. FESLER, promoted from second lieutenant of 
company G, Oct. 1, 1862; wounded at Chancellorsville 
and Gettysburg; resigned Nov. 21, 1863. 



TWENTV-SEV'ENTH INDIANA. 591 

LIEUTENANTS. 

JOHN A. CASSADY, commissioned Aiicr. 30,1861; pro- 
moted captain of company D. 

JAMES STEPHENS, commissioned Aug. 30, 1861; pro- 
moted first lieutenant April 16, 1862, captain Nov. 22, 
1868; wounded at Antietam and New Hope Church; 
mustered out Nov. 4, 1864. 

SERGEANTS. 

THOMAS D. HENDERSON, discharged Nov. — , 1864; 

disability. 
WILLIAM P. HARRIS, resigned to act as the Colonel's 

orderly; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
THOMAS W. HILL, killed at Cedar Mountain, Aug. 9, 1862. 
GEORGE W. RODDICK, promoted second lieutenant April 

16, 1862 ; dismissed July 18, 1863 ; charges not reported. 
PATRICK CURLEY, captured at Winchester; died at 

Washington, D. C, Nov. 11, 1862; prison hardships. 

CORPORALS. 

JOHN DYE, discharged June — , 1863; reason not reported. 

ABSOLAM McDonald, discharged 1863, for wounds at 
Cedar Mountain. 

JOHN HAYMAN, discharged Nov. — , 1863; disability. 

WILLIAM P. ELLIS, promoted to orderly sergeant; wounded 
at Gettysburg and Resaca; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

BETHUEL M. CLARK, promoted orderly sergeant; date not 
reported ; promoted first lieutenant March 29, 1864 ; trans- 
ferred to Company A, Seventieth Indiana, Nov., 1864; 
mustered out with that regiment. 

THOMAS McGEE, mustered out September 1, 1864. 

JOHN JONES, mortally wounded at Cedar Mountain ; died 
at Alexandria, Va., Aug. 18, 1862. 

ROBERT R. BRATTON, promoted sergeant ; wounded at 
Antietam, Gettysburg and Resaca; veteran. 

PRIVATES. 

ELISHA STEPHENS, drummer; a boy, one of the stayers; 

mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
EDWARD W. KELLEY, went into ranks ; mustered out 

Sept. 1, 1864. 
MICHAEL McCORMICK, wagoner ; discharged Jan., 1862 ; 

disability. 



592 HISTORY OF THE 

HENRY C. AUSTIN, wounded at Chancellorsville and 

Gettysburg; veteran. 
ANDREW J. ARNOLD, captured at Winchester; wounded 

at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg ; veteran. 
DANIEL ALTON, promoted to corporal and sergeant ; date 

not reported; wounded at Antietam ; mustered out Dec, 

18G4. 
THOMAS AKSTER, promoted corporal; wounded Gettys- 
burg; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
WASHINGTON AKESTER, wounded at Chancellorsville; 

veteran. 
WILLIAM AMOS, discharged April G, 1864; cause not 

reported. 
JOSEPH T. BARBOUR, wounded at Chancellorsville and 

Peach Tree Creek; mustered out Sept. 4, 1864. 
DAVID BROWN, captured at Winchester; wounded at 

Chancellorsville; veteran. 
JAMES BROWN, discharged Feb., 1862; disability. 
ELISHA BLACK, discharged, 1868; disability. 
WILLIAM C. BOYD, captured at Winchester ; died, Lynch- 
burg, Va. ; date not reported, prison hardships. 
JOHN B. BOYD, captured at Winchester; wounded at Get- 
tysburg ; veteran. 
JOHN BONNER, wounded at Chancellorsville ; transferred 

to V. R. C. ; date not reported. 
JAMES M. BOMER, veteran. 
ELI E. BARNES, promoted corporal ; mustered out Sept. 1, 

1864. 
JOHN CONNELLY, detached to gunboat service Jan., 1862. 
JOSEPH CARROLL, captured at Winchester; killed at 

Chancellorsville, Va , May 3, 1868. 
SOLOMON COX, mortally wounded at Chancellorsville, 

Va., May 8, 1868 ; died May 14, 1868 ; place not reported. 
JAMES M. CHAPMAN, killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 

1863. 
ROBERT CRAYS, wounded on picket, Strasburg, Va.,May, 

1862; discharged Dec, 1862; disability. 
MICHAEL COCHRAN, detached to Battery M, First N. Y. 

Light Artillery, April 30, 1862. 
LEWIS CLARK, died, Alexandria, Va., Dec. 11, 1868; cause 

not reported. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 593 

JAMES H. DOUGHERTY, promoted to corporal ; wounded 

at Resaca ; veteran. 
WILLIAM DOANE, wounded at Gettysburf^ ; mustered out 

Sept. 15, 1864. 
JOSEPH A. DAVIS, wounded at Antietam ; veteran. 
JAMES EDWARD, veteran. 

DAVID EVERHEART, promoted to corporal and to ser- 
geant, dates not reported; wounded at Chancellorsville 

and Peach Tree Creek; veteran. 
EDWIN FREEMAN, wounded at Antietam; transferred to 

V. R. C, date not reported. 
JOHN FITZGERALD, wounded at Antietam ; discliarged 

18G3, disability. 
JONATHAN GREGORY, discharged 1SG3, cause and exact 

date not reported. 
BENJAMIN T. GREGORY, captured at Winchester ; died 

Washington, D. C, Dec. 7, 1862, prison exposure. 
THOMAS B. GREGORY, killed at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 

1864. y 

DAVID GRANY, deserted, date not reported. 
WILLIAM GAINOR, died Fredrick, Md., Dec, 1861, 

disease. 
GEORGE GESLER, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864; died on 

the way home, cause not reported. 
MARTIN V. GILLY, wounded at Antietam; veteran. 
JOB GILLY, wounded at Chancellorsville ; transferred to V. 

R. C, date not reported. 
JAMES HERINSHAW, killed at Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 

1862. 
JACKSON HOPPER, wounded at Peach Tree Creek ; mus- 
tered out Nov., 1864. 
JOSEPH HAWKINS, died at Williamsport, Md., Dec. 2, 

1862, disease. 
WILLIAM HENNING, wounded at Antietam; subsequent 

history not reported. 
HENRY "^HUSKES, died at Washington, D. C, Sept. 12, 

1862, disease. 
GEORGE W. HONEY, died near Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 14, 

1864, disease. 
WILLIAM S. JONES, wounded at Antietam and New 

Hope Church ; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOSEPH R. TONES, wounded at Antietam ; veteran. 

38 



594 HISTORY OF THE 

JOHN JACKSON, wounded at Chancellorsville and Res- 

aca ; veteran. 
JOHN R. KELLER, killed at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864. 
THOMAS LAYTON, died Jan. 9, 1862, disease, place not 

reported. 
JOHN LATTIMORE, veteran. 

NATHAN LOGAN, killed at Antietam,Md., Sept. 17, 1862. 
ANDREW LANGTON, wounded at Antietam and Chan- 

cellorsville : discharged for latter, Feb. 19, 1864. 
JAMES LASHLEY, wounded at Gettysburg; mortally 

wounded at New Hope church; died June 25, 1864, 

place not reported. 
ERASTUS LANE, wounded at Antietam; transferred to V. 

R. C, date not reported. 
EMANUEL McLANE, transferred to \'. R. C. for wounds, 

date and place not reported. 
Wn.LLVM H. MEARS, wounded at New Hope church, 

Georgia, May 25, 1864, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
FREDRICK S. MEARS, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOHN MURAT, wounded Antietam, Resaca and Atlanta; 

mustered < ut Sept. 1, 1864. 
ROBERT R. MARSHALL, wounded at New Hope church; 

veteran. 
JAMES MAXWELL, wounded at Resaca; transferred to V. 

R. C. ; (late not reported. 
SAMUEL T. OSMAN, transferred to V. K. C. : for wounds 

at Gettysburg; date not reported. 
JOHN F. PALMER, promoted corporal and sergeant ; dates 

not reported; veteran. 
NELSON PURCELL, wounded at New Hope church: vet- 
eran, 
PHILLIP ROSS, killed at Cedar Mountain, Va., Aug. 9, 

1862. 
JOSIAH ROBINSON, promoted corporal; wounded at An- 
tietam ; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
GREEN STREET, discharged, 1862; date and cause not re- 
ported. 
BERRY STREET, wounded at Peach Tree Creek : mustered 

out Feb. 7, 1865. 
THOMAS J. SWAN, deserted May 3, 1863. 
DANIEL S. SPARKS, killed at Cedar Mountain, Va., Aug. 

9, 1862. 



T\VENTV-SK\'ENTn INDIAxNA. 595 

FRANKLIN SMITH, killed at Antietain, Md., Sept. 17, 

18G2. 
JAMES B. L. SHEPHERD, veteran. 

ELIJAH H. TOMMY, wounded at Antictam ; leg ampu- 
tated; discharged Feb. 17, ISGB. 
JOHN A. THOMAS, wounded (severe) at New Hope 

church ; veteran. 
JOHN J. WILLIAMS, died, Darnestown, Md., Nov. 9, 1861; 

disease. 
JOHN WEBBER, killed at Peach Tree Creek, Ga., July 20, 

1864. 
WILLIAM H. WILSON, killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 8, 

1863. 
SAML'EL % WEAVER, promoted to corporal and sergeant ; 

date not reported ; captured at Winchester ; wounded at 

Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Resaca ; veteran. 
CHARLES H. WEAVER, promoted corporal ; captured at 

Winchester, wounded at Chancellorsville; veteran. 
SAMUEL F. WEBBER, veteran. 
JORDON WELCH, wounded at Resaca; veteran. 
SETH WHITE, wounded at Cedar Mountain and New Hope 

church; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
GEORGE W. WHITE, transferred to V. R. C, for wounds 

at Chancellorsville ; date not reported. 
AMOS WHITE, wounded at Antietam and Chancellorsville ; 

mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
IVY (or Ira) WILSON, died, Winchester, Va., March 21, 

1862 ; disease. 
JOHN WILLIAMS, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
ALBERT G. WILLIAMS, discharged Sept., 1862; cause 

not reported. 
WILLIAM WAGONER, promoted to corporal ; wounded 

Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Peach Tree Creek ; mus- 
tered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOHN G. WALLACE, promoted corporal : wounded at 

Chancellorsville and Resaca; veteran. 

RECRUITS. 

HILLIARD G. BALDWIN, mustered in July 28, 1862; 

killed at Chancellorsville, Va., May 8, 1863. 
JAMES S. BOYD, mustered in Jan. 8, 1864; wounded at 

Resaca. 



596 HISTORY OF THE 

DANIEL CLAYTON, mustered in July 28, 1862. 
JEFFREY J. COX, mustered in March 26, 1864; wounded 

at Resaca. 
JOHN F. CHAPMAN, mustered in Aug. 1, 1862; wounded 

at Antietam. 
JOHN B. JONES, mustered in March 26, 1862; mortally 

wounded at Cedar Mountain Aug. 9, 1862; date and 

place of death not reported. 
MARION JONES, mustered in Feb. 12, 1864. 
MARION McADAMS, mustered in Feb. 12, 1864 ; wounded 

at New Hope Church. 
JARRETT W. MARTIN, mustered in Feb. 12, 1864. 
DANIEL MOUCHAM, mustered in March 3, 1864; wounded 

at New Hope Church. 
PHILIP OSMAN, mustered in March 3, 1864; wounded at 

Resaca. 
WILLIAM STIPES, mustered in July 28, 1862; wounded 

at New Hope Church. 
NOAH P. STUCKEY, mustered in March 26, 1864. 
ANDREW WHITE, mustered in March 26, 1864: wounded 

at Resaca. 
THOMAS WHITE, mustered in March 26, 1864. 
ROBERT S. WILSON, mustered in March 26, 1864. 



COMPANY F. 

This Company was peculiar at the start in at least three respects 
First, it had three very tall men for commissioned officers; two of them 
being the tallest men in the regiment, and one being the tallest in the 
Union army. Secondly, it had more tall men than any other company 
in the Twenty-seventh. Thirdly, the homes of its members were the 
most widely scattered over the state. 

Company F was frequently called "The New Albany Railroad Com- 
pany." It was also twitted good humoredly as hailing from " between 
the two state prisons." New Albany and Michigan City, at opposite ex- 
tremes of Indiana, almost three hundred miles apart, were represented 
in the company, as well as many of the towns between them. The 
prominent reason for this was that several of the company had been em- 
ployees of the railroad connecting these two points. 

An officer of such giant-like stature as Lieutenant (afterward Cap- 
tain) Van Buskirk could not fail to invest a company with some special 
interest. This is still more evident when it is remembered that in his 
disposition and habits he was almost as different from others as in his 
stature. He was remarkable for his simple, unaffected and kindly ways. 
He was always approachable, to everybody and he had no hesitancy in 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 597 

approaching others. A major-general was no more to him than a private 
soldier. Owing to his absolute sincerity and utter absence of asperity, as 
much as to his size, no one ever took offense at anything he said. Some 
of the younger officers of Company F ranked high as military men and 
the company was always considered as equal to the best. 

This company arrived in Camp Morton August 7, 1861. It shows a 
total enrollment of one hundred and five. Its battle loss was twelve,' and 
from other causes eight. 

ORIGINAL ROSTER OF COMPANY F. 

Showing promotions, wounds and manner of getting out 
of the company, with dates of same, as far as known. 

CAPTAIN. 

PETER KOPP, commissioned Aug. 80, 1S61 ; wounded at 
Winchester; mortally wounded at Antietam Sept. 17, 
1862; place and date of death not reported. 

LIEUTENANTS. 

FRANCIS OTTWELL, commissioned Aug. 30, 1861 ; re- 
signed to enter V. R. C. June 24, 1862. 

DAVID VAN BUSKIRK, commissioned Aug. 30, 1861; 
promoted first lieutenant July 1, 1862, and to captain 
Sept. 19, 1862 ; prisoner at Winchester ; resigned April 
26, 1864, disability. 

SERGEANTS. 

JOHN D. McKAHIN, promoted second lieutenant July 5, 

1862, and captain of Company H Oct. 1, 1862; wounded 

at Antietam, 
JOHN M. BLOSS, promoted first sergeant July, 1863, first 

lieutenant vSept. 17, 1862, and captain April 27, 1864; 

wounded at Winchester, Antietam, Chancellorsville and 

Resaca ; served extensively as commander of Pioneers and 

superintendent of bridge and stockade building ; mustered 

out Nov. 4, 1864. 
JAMES CAMPBELL, promoted second sergeant July, 1862; 

discharged (date unknown), wounds at Antietam. 
HARVEY DODD, transferred to ambulance corps in 1861; 

mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JAMES G. BAKER, promoted first sergeant Sept., 1862, 

and first lieutenant April 27, 1864; mustered out Nov. 4, 

1864 ; wounded at Gettysburg. 



598 HISTORY OF THE 

CORPORALS. 

ISAAC VAN BUSKIRK, promoted Regimental Wagon- 
Master Sept., 1861, and second lieutenant Sept. 18, 1862 ; 
mortally wounded at Chanccllorsville ; died Acquia Creek, 
.Va., May 20, 186B. 

JAMES DA\'IS, promoted sergeant ; discharged 1862 (date 
unknown), disability. 

ISAAC VAN BUSKIRK (No. 2), discharged 1864 (date 
unknown), disability; prisoner at Winchester. 

JOSEPH V. KENTON, promoted to sergeant ; wounded at 
Antietam ; discharged Jan. 8, 1864, for wound at Gettys- 
burg. 

ELIJAH Mcknight, promoted sergeant; killed at Gettys- 
burg July 8, 1864. 

CALVIN ARTHUR, promoted sergeant and orderl\'-ser- 
geant ; w^ounded at Antietam and Atlanta ; mustered out 
Sept. 1, 1864. 

WILLIAM W. OSBORNE, sent to general hospital Balti- 
more, Md., 1861; subsequent history unknown. 

BARTON W. MITCHELL, finder of Lost Order; dis- 
charged, date unknown, wound at Antietam. 

PRIVATES. 

GEORGE W. GOINS, fifer; died Feb. 27, 1862, disease. 

WILLIAM S. OTTWELL, drummer (a boy) ; discharged 
June 24, 1862, disability. 

JOHN SOUTH, wagoner; discharged 1868, date unknown, 
disability. 

THOMAS ARD, wounded Antietam and Chanccllorsville; 
transferred to V. R. C. 

BENJAMIN ARTHUR, wounded at Newtown, Va. ; mus- 
tered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JAMES S. ARTHUR, discharged, date unknown, wounds 
at Antietam. 

DAVID BUTTLER, detached to Western gunboat service 
Jan., 1862. 

WILLIAM BROWN, died of disease at Darnestown, Md., 
1861, date unknown. 

BENJAMIN F. BOURNE, prisoner at Winchester ; trans- 
ferred to C. S. department, 18(;2. 

ENOCH G. BOICOURT, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864; an 
excellent soldier. 



TWEXTV-SEVENTir INDIANA. 599 

JOSHUA BUNNELL, discharged, date unknown, wound at 
Antietam. 

WILLLA.M BARNES, died of disease at Darncstown, Md., 
1861, date not reported. 

JAMES H. BURK, took transfer to regulars Oct.. 1862; 
mustered out Sept. 1, 1864, 

DANIEL BURK, wounded at Peach Tree Creek ; mustered 
out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JOHN CAMPBELL, wounded at Antietam, Gettysburg and 
Resaca ; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

BENJAMIN V. CAMPBELL, died of disease. Camp Hal- 
leck, Md., 1862; date not reported. 

ALFRED L. CANTWELL, mortally wounded at Antietam, 
Sept. 17, 1862 ; date of death unknown. 

DAVID COOK, prisoner at Winchester; mortally wounded 
at Resaca, May 15, 1864; died ISIay 27, 1864. 

JESSE K. DENNY, died of disease, Berryville, Va., 1«62 ; 
date not reported. 

DAWSON DENNY, wounded at Antietam ; mustered out 
Sept. 1, 1864. 

THOMAS DOUGLASS, took transfer to regulars Oct., 1862. 

HENRY DANIELS, transferred to V. R. C. ; date un- 
known ; too old for active service. 

WALLACE EDWARDS, took transfer to regulars Oct., 
1862. 

WILLIAM W. EDWARDS, wounded at Winchester; dis- 
charged, date unknown, wounds, Antietam. 

GEORGE EDWARDS, wounded and prisoner at Winches- 
ter ; killed at Resaca, May 15, 1864. 

WILLIAM EADS, discharged, date unknown, wounds at 
Antietam. 

JAMES M. FOSTER, discharged, 1862, date unknown; 
disability. 

THOMAS J. FREEMAN, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

THOMAS M. GASCON, discharged, date unknown, 
wounds at Antietam. 

SAMUEL GASCON, promoted corporal and sergeant, dates 
unknown; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JOHN GILLASPIE, mortally wounded at Antietam ; died 
Dec. 22, 1862. 

WILLIAM H. GILLASPIE, discharged 1862, date un- 
known, wounds at Antietam. 



600 HISTOIIY OF THE 

HENRY C. GABBERT, wounded at Winchester and An- 
tietani ; discharged 1862, date not reported. 

TILLMAN IL GENTRY, discharged, date unknown ; loss 
of leg at Antietam. 

ROBERT GREGORY, took transfer to regulars Oct., 1862. 

EPHRAIM M. GOSS. mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JOHN GROVES, promoted corporal ; wounded at Gettys- 
burg ; veteran. 

REUBEN HENDRICKSON, wounded at Gettysburg; 
killed at Resaca, May 15, 1864. 

MICHAEL HEALEY, prisoner at Winchester ; discharged 
1862, date unknown ; disability. 

GREENBERRY HANCOCK, discharged 1862, date un- 
known ; disability. 

WILLIAM H. HUSHAW, wounded at Gettysburg; veteran. 

SAMUEL HOLLER, wounded at Gettysburg; mustered out 
Sept. 1, 1864. 

MARTIN HOOVER, wounded at New Hope Church ; mus- 
tered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JOSEPH E. JOHNSON, promoted corporal and sergeant : 
dates unknown; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

ROBERT JOHNSON, reported a deserter after the battle of 
Winchester, May 25, 1862. 

LEONIDAS JAMES, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JOHN LARKINS, prisoner at Winchester; wounded at 
New Hope Church ; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

FRANKLIN LEMMONS, wounded at Winchester and Get- 
tysburg ; veteran. 

ABRAHAM LUYSTER, prisoner at Winchester : killed at 
Gettysburg July 2, 1868. 

HENRY LUTZ, deserted Aug., 1862. 

JAMES LEFEVER, deserted Aug., 1862. 

THOMAS McGINNIS, promoted corporal ; wounded at An- 
tietam ; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

PHILLIP McMANNIS, discharged; date unknown; wound 
at Antietam. 

LINDSEY A. MULLEN, wounded at Antietam; mustered 
out Sept. 1, 1864. 

MARTIN O'CONNELL, died of disease. Chattahoochee 
River, Ga., 1864; date unknown. 

FRANCIS A. OTTWELL, discharged; wound at Antietam, 
date unknown. 



TWENTY- SEVENTH INDIANA. 601 

THOMAS P. OTWELL, discharged June 24, 18C2 ; dis- 
ability. 

JOHX PARI! AM, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

ARTHUR PRATT, mustered out Sept. 1, 1564. 

THOMAS PRATT, killed in rifle pit, Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 1, 
1804. 

JOHX REAM, discharged 18G4; date not reported; dis- 
ability. 

AVH.L1AM C. RILEY, wounded at Chancellorsville ; mus- 
tered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

ENOCH RICHARDSON, wounded at Resaca ; mustered 
out Sept. 1, 18G4. 

PETER RYAN, discharged, date unknown ; wound at Get- 
tysburg; only recorded case of recovery from peculiar 
wound in head. 

THEODORE F. RODGERS, promoted corporal ; mustered 
out Sept. 1, 1864. 

CHARLES SMITH, transferred to V. R. C. ; date unknown ; 
debility. 

MARK C. SHEPHERD, lost a finger by accident ; mustered 
out Sept. 1, 1864. 

HENRY SIPES, died Nov. 28, 1861; measles. 

JAMES D. SHERMAN, wounded at Antietam and Resaca ; 
mustered out vSept. 1, 1864. 

ROBERT M. TATLOCK, died Frederick, Md., 1862, date 
unknown ; disease. 

JOSHUA TATLOCK, discharged, date unknown ; wound 
at Antietam. 

THOMAS TODD, died at Washington, Dec. 3, 1862. 

JOHN THOMAS, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864; died before 
reaching home. 

JOSEPH D. TROLLINGER, promoted corporal; mortally 
wounded at Chancellorsville ; date and place of death un- 
known. 

DAVID B. \"ANCE, discharged, date unknown; wound at 
Antietam. 

SAMUEL REED VINSON, discharged, date unknown; 
wound at Antietam. 

HENRY VAN VOORST, company and regimental clerk ; 
declined promotion over others; wounded at Antietam, 
Chancellorsville and Resaca; discharged Oct. 18, 1864. 

JOHN VAN BUSKIRK, promoted corporal, sergeant and 



602 HISTORY OF THE 

ordcrly-ser^^eant, dales unknown ; wounded at Chancel- 
lorsville; mustered out Sept, 1, 1864. 

MICHAEL H. VAN BUSKIRK, promoted corporal; pris- 
oner at Winchester ; wounded at New Hope Church ; 
mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

WILLIAM WILLIAMS, discharged, date unknown; wound 
at Chancellorsville. 

JOHX WILLIAMS, discharged, date unknown ; loss of leg 
at Antietam. 

ALFRED \\'1LSC)X, mortally wounded at Chancellorsville; 
died, Washington, D. C, July 8, 1863. 

GEORGE W. WELCH, wounded at Resaca and New Hope 
Church; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

BENJAMIN F.WHITE, died of disease ; date and place 
unknown. 

JOHN WEAVER, wounded ot Antietam and Resaca, mus- 
tered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

RECRUITS. 

FRANK EBERLING, mustered in April 1, 1864. 

JAMES B. GELLESPIE, mustered in April 5, 1862; dis- 
charged, date unknown; wound at Antietam. 

HOWARD HENSLEY, mustered in March 5, 1862: dis- 
charged, date unknown; wound at Antietam. 

CHRISTOPHER SNEIDER, wounded at Chancellorsville; 
deserted from hospital and re-enlisted in another reg- 
iment. 



COMPANY G. 

As Company G was from Alorgantown and vicinity, it was natural 
that Brown and Johnson counties should have representatives in it, as 
well as Morgan. In another respect, also, this was a border company. 
It hailed from the border between Union and Secession sentiment. A 
Union soldier need not go far from Morgantown to find himself in the 
enemy's country. This was true, of course, of all the men in the Twenty- 
seventh, if not all Union soldiers from Indiana. Anyone who enlisted in 
the Union army from Indiana knew that he would thereby incur the hos- 
tility of near neighbors, if not relatives. But the case of Company G was 
more pronounced than most others.* 

This company arrived in Camp Morton, August 12, 18(51. Surgeon 
Johnson came as its captain. When, rather against his wishes, but more 
m the line of his previous experiences, he was made surgeon, John R. 

* It was in this region that, after the presidential election in 18!)(J, the modest head- 
stones marking the graves of Union soldiers were daubed with red paint, as a mark of 
opprobrium. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH IXDIANA. 608 

Fesler was advanced to captain, and others accordingly. That all of the 
commissioned officers should thus be Feslers was unique. The captain 
and second lieutenant were brothers, and the first lieutenant was their 
cousin. No need to say that the positions came to all of them in an hon- 
orable way. True to the army custom of giving short, handy names to 
everybody, these officers were known among us as "Captain John R.," 
"Lieutenant Pete" and " Lieutenant George." Later it was "Colonel 
John R.," " Captain Pete " and " Captain George." Whether on the 
skirmish line alone or in the battle front of the regiment, Company G 
could be relied upon. A large number of its members are well remem- 
bered by those of other companies. Its enrollment was one hundred and 
fourteen. It lost fifteen killed and mortally wounded in battle, and 
eighteen from sickness and other causes. 

ORIGINAL ROSTER OF COMPANY G. 

With promotions, wouncls and manner of getting out of 
the company, and dates of same, as far as known. 

CAPTAIN. 

JOHN R. FESLP^R, commissioned Aug. 80, 1861, promoted 
lieutenant-colonel June 12, 1808, with regiment in every 
battle or skirmish ; mustered out Nov. 4, 1864. 

LIEUTENANTS. 

PETER FESLER, commissioned August 30, 1861, promoted 
captain Feb. 18, 1868; transferred to Company E, Sev- 
entieth Indiana ; served till end of war. 

GEORGE L. FESLER, commissioned Aug. 30, 1861, pro- 
moted captain Company E, Oct. 1, 1862. 

SERGEANTS. 

CHARLES A. KELSO, wounded Cedar Mountain, Va. ; 
mustered out Sept. 1, 1862. 

JAMES H. TERHUNE, killed at Chancellorsville. May 3, 
1868. 

SQUIRE O. W. GARRETT, promoted first sergeant ; pro- 
moted second lieutenant Oct. 1. 1862; first lieutenant 
Feb. 18, 1868; resigned March 2, 1863. 

JOHN F. M. STEWART, veteran. 

FLETCHER D. RUNDELL, promoted first sergeant ; sec- 
ond lieutenant Feb. 13, 1868 ; first lieutenant ]March 8, 
1863, mustered out Nov. 4, 1864. 

CORPORALS. 

SAMUEL COUGHRAN, promoted sergeant; mustered out 
Sept. 1, 1864. 



604 HISTORY OF THE 

ANDREW R. VAN SICKLE, promoted sergeant and first 
sergeant; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

HIRAM REYNOLDS, detached to gunboat service Febru- 
ary, 1862; hung Nashville, Tenn., 18G4, for murder. 

JOHN P. FLETCHER, killed Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863. 

MOSES BEAVERS, died Frederick, Md., Nov. 20,1862; 
disease. 

BENJAMIN F. HENSLEY, discharged Feb. 14, 1862 ; dis- 
ability. 

SAMUEL W. FLEENER,died Darnestown, Md., Sept. 8, 
1861 ; disease. 

JAME.S AI. FESLER, promoted sergeant; mustered out 
Sept. 1, 1864. 

PRIVATES. 

ARTHUR B. DOUGLASS, musician, discharged Oct. 7, 

1862. 
EDWARD FUGATE, musician, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
MOSES FUGATE, teamster, discharged Dec. 18, 1862. 
JOHN ATKINS, promoted corporal; wounded Gettysburg; 

transferred to V. R. C. 
L. C. ANTHRUM, killed Gettysburg, Pa., July 8, 1863. 
ALEXANDER ANDREWS, captured at Winchester; dis- 
charged ; loss of leg at Gettysburg. 
AARON ALLEN, wounded at New Hope Church ; veteran. 
ISAAC BROWN, veteran. 
JOHN B. BAKER, promoted corporal ; mustered out Sept. 

1, 1864. 
ELISHA BAILEY, captured at Winchester; veteran. 
HENRY C. BEVAN, veteran. 
WILLIAM J. BLUE, veteran. 
ELIJAH BAKER ; promoted corporal ; wounded Antietam ; 

mustered out Sept. 1, 1864 
ROBERT W. COFFEE, veteran. 

REUBEN CAMPBELL, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOHN H. CAYWOOD, veteran. 
ANDREW J. CPIASE, discharged Frederick, Md., Feb. — , 

1802; disability. 
ROBERT S. DAVIS, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
THOMAS DAVID, mustered out 1862. 
D. T. DAVID, killed Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863. 
JAMES DAVENPORT, died Baltimore, Md., October — , 

1862. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 605 

ERASMUS DAVENPORT, died Frederick, Md., Dec. — , 
1864 

ABEL DEITZ, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

WM. W. DOUGHERTY, promoted sergeant-major; pro- 
moted second lieutenant Company H, Feb. 1868. 

WM. P. FUGATE, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

AARON FLEENER, wounded at Chancellorsville; mustered 
out Sept. 1, 1864. 

HENRY J. FLEENER, died of disease; place unknown. 

HENRY FRY, taken prisoner Winchester, Va., May 25, 
1862; died Richmond, Va., in prison. 

SAMUEL O. FLETCHER, promoted corporal ; veteran. 

JACOB C. FISHER, discharged; wounds at Antietam. 

JACOB GILMORE, discharged; wounds Chancellorsville. 

W^ILLIAM GLADDEN, died Frederick, Md., Jan. 11, 1862; 
disease. 

MARSHAL GARDNER, veteran. 

THOMAS HILLMAN, mortally wounded at Chancellors- 
ville. Date and place of death unknown. 

CHARLES HORNER, prisoner at Winchester; died Atlanta, 
Ga., Sept. 1, 1864; disease. 

WILLIAM J. HENSLEY, killed Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 
1862. 

JOHN W. HUTCHINSON, discharged ; disability. 

EMERY HOWELL, veteran. 

NOAH P. HILLMAN, veteran. 

JAMES JACOBvS, wounded Resaca ; mustered out .Sept. 1, 
1864 

PETER D. JACOBS, veteran. 

JOEL KEMP, promoted corporal and sergeant ; mustered out 
Sept. 1, 1864. 

GRANVILLE KEMP, promoted corporal ; mustered out 
Sept. 1, 1864. 

PETER KEMP, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

GEORGE W. KANE, died Frederick, Md. ; disease. 

JAMES P. KELSO, wounded Chancellorsville, 

ROBERT KUTZLEH, discharged, date not stated; dis- 
ability. 

THOMAS KEPHART, prisoner Winchester; mustered out 
Sept. 1, 1864. 

GEORGE KENT, discharged for wounds at Gettysburg ; date 
not stated. 



606 HISTORY OF THE 

JAMES J. LAXE, wounded at Antietam ; veteran. 

JOHN LESTER, died Frederick, Md„ Jan. — , 1862; dis- 
ease. 

CHRISTOPHER MELTOX, discharged, wounds at Gettys- 
burg. 

ROBERT AIELTOX, wounded Gettysburg; mustered out 
Sept. 1, 1864. 

WILLIAM MATHEWS, died Frederick, Md. : date un- 
known. 

MATHIAS McCLANE, discharged 1862; disability. 

JOSEPH McCLANE, captured at Winchester ; discharged 
Dec. 10, 1862; disability. 

SHELLY MARTIN, deserted Feb. 10,1-63; reported to 
Capt. Fesler in Xorth Carolina, 1865; mustered out in 
1865. 

AVILLIAM H. OBENCHAIX, discharged Feb. —,1862; 
disability. 

TIMOTHY L. PRATT, wounded at Antietam; mustered out 
Sept. 1, 1864 

GEORGE W. PROSSER, lost leg at Atlanta, discharged ; 
veteran. 

JOHN F. PATTERSON, discharged 1862; disability. 

JOHN ROBISOX, died camp Jo Holt Oct. 31, 1861 ; dis- 
ease. 

CHARLES ROBISON, captured at Winchester; died in 
prison Richmond, Va., July, 1862. 

ZACHARIAH ROOD, veteran. 

PETER ROOXEY, promoted corporal; inustered out .Sept. 
1,1864. 

JAMES M. RAGSDALE, promoted hospital steward; died 
near Darnestown, Oct., 1861 ; disease. 

JAMES SCRAGGS, started in March, 1862, to return from 
Bunker Hill, Va., to Harpers Ferry; never heard from; 
believed to be murdered. 

ELIJAH SMITH, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

E. F. STIMSOX, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JOSEPH V. STIMSON, Gen. Ruger's orderly; wounded by 
bayonet thrust at Cedar Mountain, and gun-shot at Chan- 
cellorsville ; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JOHN TOMEY, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

SAMUEL TOMEY, prisoner Winchester; mustered out 
Sept. 1, 1864. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 607 

JOHN N. THOMPSON, veteran ; transferred to Seventieth 

and Thirty-third Indiana. 
ASA B. TERHUNE, killed at Chancellorsville, Va., May 8, 

1863. 
NATHAN D. F. TERHUNE, dischar^^ed ; loss of leg at 

Gettysburg. 
JOHN D. WHITTED, discharged, Fredrick. Feb., 1862; 

disability. 
GEORGE W. WRIGHT, drummed out at Stafford Court 

House, Va., for cowardice at Antietam. 
J. M. WRIGHT, captured at Winchester, Va. ; died in 

prison. Richmond, Va., 1862. 
WILLIAM J. WELLS, wounded. Gettysburg; mustered 

out Sept. 1, 1864. 
SILAS H. WELLS, discharged, 1862; disability. 
HENRY C. WELLENS, died of wounds at Antietam ; 

date unknown. 
AVILLIAM WEEKLY, wounded, Gettysburg; veteran. 
JOHN K. WHETSTINE, killed in front of Atlanta, Ga., 

July 25, 1864. 
JOSEPH E. WHITE, promoted sergeant-major; promoted 

second lieutenant March 18, 1868 ; wounded, Chancel- 

lorsville ; resigned Nov. 21, 1864. 
GEORGE WEMER, captured at Winchester; mustered out 

Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOHN M. YOUNG, promoted corporal ; mustered out Sept. 

1, 1864. 

RECRUITS. 

ROBERT BARNHILL, mustered in March 8, 1862. 

JOHN S. COFFEE, mustered in March 27, 1864. 

GEORGE PATE, mustered in March 5, 1862; wounded at 
New Hope Church, Ga., 1864. 

ADAM SNAPP, mustered in April 2, 1862. 

MELVIN SANBORN, mustered in March 19, 1862. 

ANDREW J. WEEKLY, mustered in March 27, 1864. 

JAMES WOOD, mustered in March 15, 1862. 

LYFUS HOLT, mustered in Aug. 11, 1862 ; killed at Gettys- 
burg, Pa., July 8, 1868. 

JEPHTHA ENGLE, mustered in April 8, 1862; marked as 
a deserter ; thought to be an error. 

FRANCIS BETCHMAN, mustered in April 2, 1862; killed 
at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864. 



608 HISTORY OF THE 

ROBERT Mclaughlin, killed at Antietam, Md., Sept, 
17, 1862. 

COMPANY H. 

The men f)f this company, on the face of the records, did not receiv'e 
their just dues, in several respects. Like some other companies, the 
name of the county in a which a part, but not all, lived, was put down in 
place of the postofifice address of its men — Jennings countv. Just as 
though that was what was wanted, or would be of any service after- 
wards! The writer has not been able to find where many of the company 
really did belong. Of the three original commissioned officers of Com- 
pany H, one resigned inside of six months and the other two inside of a 
year. The records do not show whether or not this was justitiabie. 
Among them the blame concerning the postoffice address item doubtless 
rested. One other member of the company received a commission as 
second lieutenant, but was dismissed soon afterwards, under circum- 
stances not fully approved by disinterested parties. After that, every 
commissioned officer the company had was appointed over it, not only 
without its consent, but from outside of its own ranks. In other words, of 
the one hundred and eight enlisted men in the company, only one was 
rewarded with a commission, in the three years of its service, and that 
one with the result named. No questions are here raised as to the fitness 
of those appomted. On its face, it could not be right. If, as reported 
under breath, at the time, it was the result of pique and malice on the 
part of Colonel Colgrove, it should not only stand as a blot on his record, 
but the recurrence of a similar wrong should be rendered impossible in 
the future. Some of the statistics of Company H are the following: 
Whole number enrolled, one hundred and fourteen; killed and mortally 
wounded, twelve; died of disease, etc., sixteen; prisoners at Winchester, 
eleven; veterans, nine. These figures do not tally with Colonel Fox's, 
but he credits this company with the loss of one commissioned officer; 
and, being in error on that point, raises the presumption that he may be 
on others. 

ORIGINAL ROSTER OF COMPANY H. 

CAPTAINS. 

ALLEN HILL, commissioned Aug. 30, 1861 ; resigned June 
16, 1862. 

JOHN McKAHIN, promoted from second lieutenant Com- 
pany F, Oct. 1, 1862; resigned March 14, 1863. 

JOSEPH BALSLEY, enlisted as private in Company D, 
Aug. 15, 1861 ; promoted sergeant Sept., 1861 ; orderly ser- 
geant Jan., 1862, and to second lieutenant June 2, 1862; 
commanded Company D, Aug. 9 to Sept. 17, 1862, and 
July 4 to Oct. 11, 1863; promoted captain Company H,- 



TWEXTV-SEXKNTII INDIANA, (309 

Dec. 11, 18055; wounded at Antietam and Gettysburg; 
mustered out Xov. 4, 18G1. 

FIUST LIEUTENANTS. 

JAMES D. HUDSON, commissioned Aug. 30, 18G1 ; resigned 
June 24, 1862. 

WILLIAM W. DOUGHERTY, promoted from sergeant- 
major Jan. 1, 18()H; promoted adjutant ]\Iarch 1. 18(38. 

STEPHEN D. LYON, promoted from civil life, February 
28, 18G3; was with the regiment as civilian drill master; 
taken prisoner at Winchester; honorably discluirged Oct. 
2(^, 1863; wounded at Chancellorsville. 

SECOND LIEUTENANTS. 

THOMAS STEWART, commissioned Aug. 30, 1861; re- 
signed Feb. 10, 18(32. . 

THOMAS NUGENT, transferred from Company D ; commis- 
sioned second lieutenant Oct. 11. 1862 ; discharged Oct. 
20, 1863; loss of leg at Gettysburg. 

SERGEANTS. 

NEHEMIAH WALTON, promoted second lieutenant Feb, 

10, 1862 ; dismissed, Oct. 10, 18C2 ; justice of dismissal 

questionable. 
GEORGE W. BRADSHAW, promoted first sergeant Feb., 

1862; discharged June 21, 1862; disability. 
GEORGE W. BATCHELOR, promoted second sergeant Feb., 

1802; taken prisoner \\'inchester ; killed Gettysburg, Fa., 

July 3, 1863. 
JOHN H. MATNEY, transferred to United States Marines 

Jan., 1802. 
JAMES W. REED, taken to hospital Frederick, Md., 18(32; 

never returned to regiment; mustered out S.pt. 1, 1804. 

COIU'OH ALS. 

VOLNEY WAl/rOX, in Color Guard; wounded Antietam; 

veteran. 
ALONZO OLMSTEAD, wounded Antietam; veteran. 
THOMAS H. ADAMS, promoted sergeant June, 1862; 

transferred V. R. C. ; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOSEPH ROSEBERY, discharged June. 1862; disabilitv. 

39 



010 HISTOHV OF THE 

MATHIAS TERWILEGAR, regimental blacksmith ; mus- 
tered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

GEORGE W. COOXS, promoted sergeant July, 1868; vet- 
eran. 

NEWTON H. FITZGERALD, promoted first sergeant June, 
1862 ; wounded and captured at Cedar Mountain ; died at 
Fortress Monroe after release. 

WILLIAM CUNLIFF, promoted first sergeant Nov., 1862; 
wounded in head Lost Mountain, Ga., June 5, 1864; 
mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

I'Un'ATES. 

JOHN M. CONGDON, fifer ; went into ranks; took transfer 

to regulars Jan., 1863. 
GEORGE W. EARHART, drummer: discharged Jan. 10, 

1862; disability. 
ROBERT BRAND, wagoner; captured at Winchester; dis- 
charged Nov., 1862, disability. 
WILLIAM R. ADAMS, died Alexandria, Va.. Jan.. lS'y2 \ 

nostalgia. 
ALBERT E. AMMONS, mortally wounded, grape shot in 

head. New Hope Church, Ga., May 25, 1864. 
ZODA BUTLER, promoted corporal Color Guard ; severe 

wound Gettysburg ; mustered out .Sept. 1, 1864. 
GREEN BIAS, died Frederick. Md., Jan. 11, 1862; pneu- 
monia. 
ADAM BIAS, wounded and taken prisoner Winchester May 

25, 1862; wounded Gettysburg; veteran. 
JONATHAN BAKER, promoted corporal; wounded Anlie- 

tam ; took transfer to regulars Oct., 1862. 
ABRAHAM BAKER, discharged May. 1862; disability. 
JOHN BEADLE, discharged, date unknown; wounds An- 

tietam. 
LUTHER BEADLE, killed Antietam, :^Id., Sept. 17, 1862. 
GEORGE W. BEASLEY, discharged date unknown; 

wounds Antietam. 
ALLEN BRYANT, wounded Resaca, severe; veteran. 
DANIEL W. BAILIFF, absent from regiment after 1862; 

mustered out September 1, 1864. 
HENRY BRATHOUSE, discharged; date unknown; 

wounds Antietam. 



TWEN'IV-SEV'ENTH INDFANA. 611 

CALVIN BROOKS, died at Winchester, Va., March, 1862; 

fever. 
ADAM BROWER, promoted corporal; prisoner Winchester; 

wounded New Hope Church; mustered out Sept. 12, 

1864. 
JOHN M. BROWER, prisoner at Winchester; died Fort 

Dehxware Oct. 22, 1862, effects prison life. 
PHILIP COX, wounded Cedar Mountain and New Hope 

Church; through head and through leg; veteran. 
WILLIAM LI. CHAMBERS, died Alexandria, Va., April 

25, 1864; disease. 
JOHN COMBS, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOSHUA DEPUTY, wounded badly Resaca, Ga., May 15, 

1864; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
HARVEV DEPUTY, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
THOMAS R. DEPUTY, injured Culpeper, Va., July, 1862; 

discharged Nov., 1862, disability. 
ZACLIARIAH DEPUTY, sent to hospital July, 1852; never 

returned to regiment ; mustered out vSept. 1, 1864. 
JOSEPH B. DEPUTY, discharged 1862, place and exact 

date unknown ; disability. 
WILLIAM DEPUTY, killed Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 1862. 
FRANCIS DOOLEY, wounded Cedar Mountain and Get- 
tysburg; transferred V. R. C. 
JOSEPH DINGMAN, discharged for cowardice, Feb., 1863. 
ROBERT DIXON, discharged Feb. 1, 1862; disability. 
HENRY DEPUTY, died, Frederick, Md., Jan. 12, 1862; 

consumption. 
TIMOTHY M. DOLAN, discharged Feb. 1, 1862; disability. 
CLEMENT DUNLAP, discharged Dec, 1862; disability. 
AL'STIN DUNLAP, wounded, Antietam ; discharged 1868, 

date unknown ; disability. 
THOMAS DORCETT, wounded, Antietam and New Hope 

Church ; mustered out Sept. 12, 1864. 
JOHN L. FIL1"2S, promoted corporal and sergeant; Color 

Sergeant of regiment; wounded. Gettysburg; mustered 

out Sept. 1, 1864. 
WILLIAM FRANCIS, wounded at Cedar Mountain ; took 

transfer to regulars Oct., 1862. 
HENRY A. FARRIS, promoted sergeant 1868; veteran; 

taken prisoner after transfer from Twenty-seventh. 



G12 HISTORY OF THE 

WILLIAM II. FARTHING, died, Washington, I). C , May 

10, 18(33 ; wounds at Ciiancellorsville. 
JOSHUA L. FOSTER, wounded ; mustered out Sept. 1, 1S64. 
JAMES M. FOWLER, wounded, Ciiancellorsville ; mustered 
out Sept. 1, 1864. 

REUBEN IIOLBROOK, prisoner, Winchester, Va. ; vet- 
eran. 

THOMAS HUNT, wounded, Resaca ; mustered out Sept. I, 
1864. 

HARVEY B. HILL, killed Dec. 7, 1861, accident on rail- 
road. 

THOMPSON HUDSON, discharged Jan. 10, 1862; dis- 
ability. 

MARTIN F. HALL, captured, Winchester; died, Washing- 
ton, D. C, Nov. 21,1862; prison life. 

FRANCIS M. JAMES, wounded. Resaca, severe : mustered 
out Sept. 12, 1864. 

EMANUEL C. JAMES, discharged 1863; wounds at 
Antietam. 

OREN J. JAYNE, died, Frederick, Md., Jan. 22, 1862; con- 
sumption. 

HORACE JUDKINS, discharged 1862; disability. 

ANDREW JONES, prisoner W^inchester ; wounded Gettys- 
burg; mustered out vSept. 1, 1864. 

LEWIS KING, wounded, Gettysburg; mustered out Se[H. 1. 
1864. 

SAMUEL S. LEMMING, killed, Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 
1864. 

JOHN E. LETT, wounded, Gettysburg ; mustered out Sept. 
1, 1864. 

THOMAS J. LETT, killed, Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863. 

ENOCH LAYTON, discharged, date unknown; wounds at 
Antietam. 

WESLEY A. MALCOLM, discharged May, Ls62 ; dis- 
ability. 

RICHARD MUSTER, killed in railroad disaster near Pitts- 
burg, Pa. ; date not reported. 

WILLIAM MUSTER, promoted corporal; wounded at An- 
tietam ; veteran. 

JOHN MUSTER, wounded, Gettysburg; mustered out 
Sept. 1, 1864. 



TWENTV-SEVKNTH INDIANA. B13 

JOHN M. McCONNEL, prisoner, Winchester; mustered 

out Sept. 1, 1864. 
IIEXRY McCASLIN, killed by comrade, throu<;h mistake, 

at Conrod's Ferry, Md., Oct. 24, 1861. 
HIRAM W. MARLING, promoted corporal July, 1868; 

mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
ROBERT McCLANNAHAX, killed at Chancellorsville, 

Va., May 8, 1863. 
PATRICK MURPHY, wounded and prisoner at Winches- 
ter ; died in prison, Lyncliburg, Va. ; date not reported. 
FRANCIS M. NEEDHAM, wounded, ; mustered 

out Sept. 1, 1864. 
GRIFFITH OGDEN, wounded at Winchester; discharged 

Jan. 8, 1868, wounds at Antietam. 
DENNIS W. OGDEN, discharged for wounds at Antietam ; 

date unknown. 
JAMES M. RICHARDS, wounded and prisoner at Win- 
chester; wounded in front of Atlanta; mustered out 

Sept. 1, 1864. 
OLI\"ER SHEPHERD, promoted corporal and sergeant; 

wounded at Antietam and Gettysburg ; transferred to 

\ . R. C. ; date unknown. 
WILLIAM STATTEN, killed at Peach Tree Creek, Ga., 

July 20, 1864. 
GRIFFIN STRADLEY, veteran. 
SA^SIUEL H. STEEL, wounded, Antietam ; mustered out for 

wound ; date unknown. 
PARKER TRUELOCK, died, Winchester, Va.. April 18, 

1862; fever. 
JAMES M. TOWN, discharged, 1862; disability. 
JOSIAH W. TOBIAS, wounded, Antietam ; mustered out 

Sept. 1, 1864. 
JAMES TODD, wounded, Chancellorsville; mustered out 

Sept. 1, 1864. 
WILLIAM T. TEMPLES, teamster; mustered out Sept. 1, 

1864. 
JOHN TAPP, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JAMES WOOD, promoted corporal and sergeant ; good sol- 
dier at first ; mixed with woman and deserted, Tulla- 

homa, Tenn., April 15, 18(>4. 
JOHN W. WALTON, prisoner at Winchester; died in 

prison, Lynchburg, Yd.. July, 1862. 



614 HISTORY OF THE 

ALVA WALTON, discharged, May, 1802; disease. 
ELISHA M. WHITSETT, mustered out Sept. 1, 18G4. 
NICHOLAS WARNER, wounded, Chancellorsville ; mus- 
tered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

RECRUITS. 

Those living transferred to Seventieth Ind., Nov. 4, 1864. 

IIARLAN ANDERSON, mustered in Aug. 11, 1862; 
wounded Gettysburg. 

JAMES R. BALDWIN, mustered in Aug. 11, 1862; wound- 
ed at Gettysburg; died JefFersonville, Ind., Oct. 11, 
1864. 

PERRY BOOIIER, mustered in March 14, 1862 ; wounded 
Antietam, 

WILLIAM F. COX, mustered in March 31, 1862. 

FRANKLIN GARSAGE, mustered in Aug. 11, 1862; 
wounded Gettysburg. 

JAMES BOOHER, mustered in Jan. 12, 1862; killed Chan- 
cellorsville, Va., May 3, 18G3. 

JOHN MEEK, mustered in March 31, 1862; mortally 
wounded Resaca, Ga,, May 15, 1864. 

JAMES EDWARDS, mustered in Aug. 11, 1862; hurt Oct. 
11, 1862; mustered out non-compos. 

GRANVILLE HOLT, died Maryland Hights, 1863; dis- 
ease. 

COMPANY I. 

This company had its oriti;in in a voluntary organization, " The Put- 
nam County Grays," formed at Putnamville in May, 186L After the 
Union reverse at Bull Run the Grays voted to enter the United States 
service. But the company was already too small and a few connected 
with it could not go to war. Therefore, new memhers were added and the 
company re-organized: The same commissioned officers were re-elected. 
Comp any I also hailed from " a border state." If the Southern Confed- 
eracy did not dominate some of the country close to Putnamville, the 
spirit of it did. The writer knows of two villages in that section of Indiana 
where the defenseless wives and daughters of Union soldiers were not only 
ostracised from society and treated to sneers and insults when they appear- 
ed in public, but were sent theatening anonymous letters. The wearing of 
butternuts for breastpins (because the uniforms of rebel soldiers were a 
butternut color) and cheering for Jeff Davis and the Southern Confed- 
eracy, were too common to be noteworthy. 

Company I was a badly mixed, oddly assorted lot of patriots. Not 
only big men and little, old and young, native and foreign were in the 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. G15 

company, but the cultured language of the student was intermingled 
with the drawling dialect of the backwoods Hoosier and the neat and tidy 
uniforms of some contrasted with the soiled garments of others, the grease 
syjots upon which resembled a map of one of the hemispheres. Most of 
the men were cheerful and happy, while others were continually grumb- 
ling and finding fault. In some of the tents a noisy contention, verging 
on a riot, was usually in progress. 

But Company I was there to stay. If Fox's Regimental Losses can 
be relied upon no other company from Indiana has a relative battle loss 
equal to our Company I. The highest loss in any one Indiana company 
reported by Fox is that of Company B, Nineteenth Indiana. He credits 
that company with a loss of twenty-five out of an enrollment of one hun- 
dred and fifteen. Our Company I lost twenty-five out of an enrollment 
of one hundred and five. It is true that Fox does not give it credit for 
such a loss; but there can be no mistake about it having it. The company 
also lost ten by disease. 

ORIGINAL ROSTER OF COMPANY I. 

Showing promotions, wounds and manner of leaving the 
company with dates of same as far as known. 

CAPTAINS. 

JOEL W. McGREW, commissioned Aug. 30, 1801 ; resigned 
Dec. 1, 186L 

TIGHLMAN H. NANCE, elected from first sergeant; com- 
missioned Dec. — , 1861 ; wounded at Cedar Alountain ; 
resigned Feb. 13, 1863. 

WILLIAM H. HOLLO WAY, commissioned Feb. 14, 18(33 ; 
resigned Oct. 4, 1864. 

FIRST LIEUTENANTS. 

GEORGE WHITFIELD REED, commissioned Aug. 30, 
1861 ; killed Cedar Mountain, Va., Aug. 9, 1862. 

WH.LIAM H. HOLLO WAY, promoted from first sergeant, 
Oct. 1, 1862; promoted captain. 

GEORGE T. CIIAPIN, commissioned Feb. 14, 1863; 
wounded at Antietam ; mortally wounded at Resaca May 
15, 1865; died at Nashville, Tenn., date not stated. 

SECOND LIEUTENANTS. 

JOSIAH C. WILLIAMS, commissioned Aug. 30, 1861 ; pro- 
moted captain Company C. 

GEORGE T. CHAPIN, promoted from first sergeant ; com 
missioned Jan. 1, 1863; promoted first lieutenant. 



610 IIISTOKV OF THE 

JOHX K. McCASK"^', promoted from sergeant-major of 
regiment ; commissioned Feb. 14, 1863 ; discharged Mav 
20, 1864; wounds at Gettysburg. 

SEIKJEANTS. 

TIGHLMAN H. NANCE, iirst sergeant, promoted captain 

by election Dec. — , 1861. 
GEORGE T. CHAPIN, second sergeant, promoted second 

lieutenant. 
JOSEPH B. SELLERS,third sergeant wounded at New Hope 

Church ; leg amputated and mustered out. 
LEE II. ALLEE, fourth sergeant, promoted third sergeant 

March 28, 1862; first sergeant March 28, 1868; wounded 

New Hope Church ; mustered out Sept. 1. 1864. 
JOSEPH GILMORE, fifth sergeant, killed at Gettysburg, 

Pa.. July 8, 1863. 

CORPORALS. 

ROBERT GOOD, first corporal, killed at Antietam, Md., 
Sept. 17, 1862. 

ISAAC HADDEN, second corporal, discharged Nov. 25, 
1862 ; wounds at Antietam. 

JAMES STEERS, third corporal, wounded at Chancellors- 
ville; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JAMES F. NOSLER, fourth corporal, promoted sergeant 
March 28, 1862; took transfer to regulars Nov. 6, 18C2 ; 
wounded at Antietam. 

WILLIAM H. HOLLOWAY, fifth corporal, promoted to 
first sergeant Jan. 1, 1862; second lieutenant Nov. 14, 
1862. 

JOHN B. CLAPSADDLE, sixth corporal, wounded at Antie- 
tam ; mustered out with regiment. 

ABRAHAM HADDEN, seventh corporal, discharged, Phil- 
adelphia, Pa., March 2, 1862; disability. 

SAMUEL TURNER, eighth corporal, took transfer to regu- 
lars Oct. 28, 1862. 

MUSICIANS. 

SAMUEL P. McCORMlCK.fifer. discharged June 2, 1862; 
disability. 

JOHN A. CONKLIX, drummer, went into ranks; took trans- 
fer to regulars Oct. 28, J 862. 



TWEXTV-SEVENTH INDIANA. G17 



WAGONEH. 

TIGHLMAN A. WRIGHT, mustered out vSeptember 1, 
18(34. 

PRIVATES. 

JOHN Q_. ADA^MS, wounded Antietam ; discharged Feb. 7, 
1864; disability. 

CYRUS ALEXANDER, died at Maryland Hights, Oct. 22, 
1862; disease. 

WILLIAM K. ALEXANDER, discharged; disability; date 
unknown. 

HAMILTON H. ASHER, mortally wounded at Resaca ; died 
June 14, 1864, Nashville, Tenn. 

ISAAC ADAMS, discharged Alexandria, Va., Feb. 8, 1863; 
disability. 

MICHAEL BECK, promoted corporal ; wounded at New 
Hope Church ; mustered out Sept. 1. 1864. 

DANIEL BECK, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JOHN P. BEARD, promoted third corporal and second ser- 
geant ; mortally wounded at Chancellorsville, Va., May 8, 
1863. 

SAAIUEL M. BUTCHER, discharged Dec. 15, 1861 ; disa- 
bility. 

CHARLES BROWN, known as Old Junk, discharged April 
15, 1863; disability. 

LORENZO D. CRaVvLEY, discharged 1862 ; date and cause 
not reported. 

WILLIAM J. CULBERTSON, deserted Nov. 11, 1861. 

ISRAEL G. COWGIL, discharged Jan. 2<». 1863; dis- 
ability. 

EDWARD W. CLARK, took transfer to regulars Oct. 28, 
1862. 

ANSON H. CLARK, discharged Nov. 18, 1863; disability. 

THOMAS DEVERAUX, killed at Cedar Mountain, Va., 
Aug. 9, 1862. 

LEWIS W. DREIHR, discharged at Harrisburg, Pa., Dec. 
6, 1862, for wounds at Antietam. 

THOMAS J. DODSON, killed at Chancellorsville, Va., May 
3, 1863. 

WILLIAM L. DOUGLASS, wounded, Antietam ; died at 
Philadelpliia, Pa., Feb. 27, 1863. 



618 inSTOIlV OF THE 

WILLIAM DELAHUNT, mortally wounded, Antietam, 

Md., Sept. 17, 1862. 
ELIJAH C. DAVIS, transferred to navy, Jan., 1862. 
HENRY EAKIN, wounded at Antietam; mustered out 

Sept. 1, 1864. 
FRANCIS M. FROGGET, discharged March 12, 1863; 

disability. 
WILLIAM B. FERGUSON, promoted corporal; mustered 

out Sept. 1, 1864. 
GEORGE W. FRAZIER, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOHN L. GILMORE, wounded at Antietam; mustered out 

Sept. 1, 1864. 
JAMES A. GRIMES, died, Strasburg, Va., May 22, 1862 ; 

disease. 
JOHN C. HADDEN, discharged Dec. 30, 1862; disability 
JOHN C. HEATH, transferred to V. R. C, date and cause 

not reported ; returned to regiment ; mustered out Sept. 

1, 1864. 
JOHN HIXON, wounded, Gettysburg; transferred to V. R. 

C, date not reported. 
JOHN HOWARD, wounded at Chancellorsville ; veteran. 
IRA HUNT, wounded at A^ntietam ; mortally wounded at 

Gettysburg, Pa. ; died Aug. 13, 1863. 
JOHN HUSSEY, died at Philadelphia, Pa., April 22, 1862;. 

disease. 
Jx\MES M. HALL, discharged Dec. 17, 1862; wounds at 

Antietam. 
WILLIAM R. HALE, veteran. 
MARION HARRIS, died Darnestown, Md., Dec. 1, 1861; 

disease. 
LEE HAZLEWOOD, wounded at Chancellorsville ; veteran. 
JOHN W. HESTER, discharged, Baltimore, Md., June 4, 

1862; disability. 
CHARLES W. KENDALL, took transfer to regulars Oct. 

28, 1862. 
AMOS KERSEY, captured at Winchester; mustered out 

Sept. 1, 1864. 
GABRIEL C. LEWIS, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
CHARLES II. LEWIS, killed. Cedar Mountain, Va., Aug. 

9, 1862. 
GEORGE LAWRENCE, wounded Antietam, veteran. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. G19 

WALTER LOGAN, died, Berryville, Va., April 1, 1802; 

measles. 
REUBEN LUCAS, wounded, Cedar Mountain. Gettysburg 

and New Hope Church ; mustered out vSept. ], 1864. 
WILLL\M H. MICHAEL, discharged, Williamsport, Md., 

June 29, 1862 ; cause not stated. 
GEORGE D. MARTIN, killed, Cedar ^lountain, Va., Aug. 

9, 1862. 
JOHN M. MARTIN, killed, Cedar Mountain, Va., Aug. 9, 

1862. 
JOHN S. McMAINS, mortally wounded, Chancellorsville ; 

died May 20, 1863. 
THOMAS MORGAN, deserted July 2, 1868. 
GEORGE MORGAN, discharged, Hagerstown, Md., June 

30, 1862 ; disability. 
MICHAEL McKINNEY, veteran. 

THADDEUS M. NANCE, wounded at Antietam ; veteran. 
AMOS NICHOLSON, deserted April 18, 1862. 
REUBEN NEWMAN, wounded at Antietam and Chancel- 
lorsville ; veteran. 
CARMAN A. NEWMAN, killed, Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 

1862; jugular vein severed. 
WILLIAM H. O'NEAL, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
SAMUEL OLIVER, transferred V. R. C. 
WARREN PERRY, wounded at Chancellorsville ; mustered 

out Sept. 17, 1864. 
MARVIN PERRY, took transfer to regulars, Oct. 28, 1832. 
JAMES PARSONS, veteran. 
JOHN W. PATRICK, mortally wounded at New Hope 

Church ; died July 8, 1864. 
SAMUEL PICKENS, died, JefFersonville, Ind., July 22, 

1864; disease. 
DANIEL RILEY, discharged Dec. 23, 1862; disability. 
EZRA K. SWARTZ, discharged Nov. 27, 1862; disability. 
GEORGE B. SMITH, deserted April 10, 1862. 
JOSEPH W. SMITH, wounded at Antietam; killed at 

Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863. 
WILLIAM H. STORMS, wounded at Antietam; discharged 

Feb. 28, 1863, disability. 
AARON S. STEWART, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOHN SCOTT, wounded Antietam ; veteran. 



<j20 



IIlSTOltV OK THK 



ABRAHAM A. SWARTZ. killed Cedar Mountain. Va., 

Aug. 9, 18G2. 
LEWIS P. STONE, promoted sergeant ; veteran, 
JAMES STEVENS, transferred to V. R. C. 
MARTIN C. TUGGALL, promoted corporal and sergeant ; 

mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
DAVID W. TUGGALL, killed Cedar Mountain, Va., Aug. 

9. 18(32. 
HENRY B. THOMAS, died Maryland Heights Sept. 28, 

18G2, disease. 
JACOB VARNER, took transfer to regulars Oct. 28, 1862. 
DAVID WILSON, wounded at Antietam ; took transfer to 

regulars Dec. 5, 1802. 
JESSE YOUNGER. Not accounted for. 

RECRUITS. 

JAMES B. BRADSHAW, killed Peach Tree Creek, Ga., 
July 20, 1864. 

THOMAS C. FAITH, mustered in Sept. 10, 1862. 

ROBERTW. FAITH, mustered in Aug. 21, 1862; mortally 
wounded Antietam, Md.,Sept. 17,1862; declined the 
ofl'er of his brother to assist him off of the field ; urged 
him rather to remain in the ranks, where he was needed. 

MANFORD KUTCH, mustered in Aug. 21, 1862; killed at 
New Hope Church, Ga., May 25,1864; body found near- 
est rebel works of any Union soldier. 

ALFRED A. KECK, mustered in Sept. 1, 1862; wounded 
^vntietam ; transferred to Seventh Indiana. 

DAVID B. McDonald, mustered in Aug. 15, 1862 ; killed 
Chancellorsville, Va. ,May 8, 1862. 



COMPANY K. 

This was another company first organized as a home guard company. 
In August, 1861, it voted to enter the United States service, and immedi- 
ately went into camp at Jasper — "Camp PZdmonston." The county 
auditor and recorder both abandoned their offices to continue with the 
company. Here the ladies of Jasper presented the company with the flag, 
mentioned elsewhere. There was no mistake made when the country's 
sacred emblem was committed to such hands. The fact that Company 
K was mostly composed of Germans has also been stated in other con- 
nections. Though they differed thus from most of the men of the other 



TWENTV-SKVENTH INDIAXA. 621 

companies, they were always favorites in the reLjiment. Theit- u a> ii(\ i-i 
a doubt about their courage. In addition to this, they were cheerful, good 
humored and full of fun* Colonel Fox credits Company K wiih the 
largest relative battle loss of any company in the Twenty-seventh — twenty 
out of an enrollment of one hundred and four. Later investigation shows 
that Company I exceeds this. But Company K stands next to Company 
I in the Twenty-seventh, and not far behind any company from the state. 
This company also lost ten by disease, and is credited with fifty-six 
wounded, in addition to those that were mortal. Ten members of Com- 
pany K re-enlisted as veterans. 

ORIGINAL ROSTER COMPANY K. 

With promotions, wounds and manner of leavinjij the 
company, and dates of same, as far as known. 

CAPTAIXS. 

JOHN MEHRINGER, promoted to major before commis- 
sioned. 

RICHMOND M. WELLMAN, commissioned Auo-. ao, 18G1 ; 
wounded at Winchester; resigned vSept. 30, 18G2. 

\ 

LIEUTENANTS. 

STEPHEN JERGER, commissioned Aug. 80, 1801: pro- 
moted captain Oct. 1, 1862; lost leg at Chancellorsville ; 
discharged Aug. *.), 1863. 

ARTHUR BERRY, commissioned Aug. 80, 18G1 ; resigned 
Dec. — , 18()1. 

SERGEANTS. 

JOSEPH MEHRINGER, died Jan. — , 1802: disease; place 

not reported. 
JOHN HABERLE, promoted second lieutenant, Jan. 1, 

1802; first lieutenant, Oct. 1, 1802; captain, Jan. 1, 

1864; wounded at Gettysburg; mustered out Nov. 4, 

1864. 
GEORGE MEHRINGER, wounded at Cliancellorsville ; 

mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JOHN B. MELCHOIR, discharged April 21, 1808: wounds 

at Cedar Mountain. 
THOMAS KNOX, discharged Dec. —. 1862 ; disability. 



* A member of Comjiiiny K .adds: "They were good skirmishers also; esiiecially for 
hen roosts, potato iiatches and other enemies of the country." 



C22 lIISTOltY OK THK 

CORPORALS. 

FREDERICK VOGEL, wounded at Chancellorsville ; mus- 
tered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

ANDREW STEIGEL, Color Guard; promoted sergeant; 
wounded at Gettysburg and Resaca, mustered out Sept. 
1, 1864. 

FERDINAND GRASS, discharged Oct. 14, 1862; disability. 

DAVID BERGER, wounded at Antietam ; mustered out 
Sept. 1, 1864. 

JAMES C. THOMAS, wounded at Gettysburg and New 
Hope Church; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

FREDERICK GITTER, promoted sergeant; veteran. 

GREGORY HALLER, killed at Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862. 

F. X. SERMERSHEIM, promoted sergeant; wounded at 
Antietam and Gettysburg; veteran. 

PRIVATES. 

RHEINHART RICH, filer; veteran. 

CONI^AD ECKERT, drummer; went into ranks; promoted 

corporal ; discharged Oct. 6, 1862, for wound at Cedar 

Mountain. 
WILLIAM SUDDETH, wagoner; died June 9, 1862; dis- 
ease ; place of death not reported. 
JOHN ACKERMAN, wounded at Chancellorsville and 

New Hope Church ; veteran. 
ANTON BRO CHART, transferred to V. R. C. ; date and 

cause not reported. 
CONRAD BECK, wounded at Chancellorsville; mustered 

out Sept. 1, 1864. 
DAVID BRADLEY, died; Chattanooga, Tenn. ; June 20, 

1864; disease. 
JOSEPH BERGER, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
COLE BURTON, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 
JAMES BURTON, veteran. 
BERNARD II. CASTEINS, transferred to gunboat service 

Feb. 18, 1862. 
JAMES CAVE, discharged Jan., 1862, disability. 
JAMES A. COOPER, died' Frederick, Md., Jan. 22, 1862, 

disease. 
BARNEY CULLEN, killed by a shell Resaca, Ga., May 15, 

1864. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 023 

EDWARD DUFFEY, wounded Antietam ; veteran. 

TA>[ES DUFFEY, mortally wounded at Antietam, Sept. 17, 
1862; date and place of death not reported. 

JOHN DONNELLY, killed at New Hope Church, Ga., 
May 25, 1864. 

XAVIER DONHAUER, mortally wounded at Chancellors- 
ville, Va., May 8, 1863; date and place of death not re- 
ported. 

JAAIES DILLON, killed at Harper's Ferry, Va., May 29, 
1864. 

AUGUST DONNERMANN, promoted corporal in 1863; 
wounded at Peach Tree Creek ; veteran. 

FREDERICK DORN, discharged Sept. 24, 1862; cause not 
reported. 

CELESTINE ECKERT, wounded at Cedar Mountain and 
siege of Atlanta ; veteran. 

THOMAS EVANS, wounded at Gettysburg; transferred to 
V. R. C. ; date and cause not reported. 

JOSEPH EVANS, mortally wounded at Antietam; died at 
Frederick, Md., Jan. 22., 1868. 

EDWARD EVANS, wounded at Gettysburg and Resaca ; 
mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JOHN FUHRMANN, lost a leg at Chancellorsville ; dis- 
charged Sept. 16, 1863. 

RUDOLPH GRIM, reported a deserter after Banks' retreat, 
May 25, 1862. 

JACOB GARDNER, killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863. 

JOHN E. GARDNER, discharged for wound at Antietam ; 
date not reported. 

PAUL GEPPNER, wounded at New Hope Church; mus- 
tered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

FRIEDOLIN HAGE, discharged Sept. 1, 1862, for wound 

at Winchester. 
LEONARD HALLER, wounded at Chancellorsville; mus- 
tered out Sept. 15, 1864. 
BERNARD HOCK, killed at Cedar Mountain, Va., Aug. 9, 

1862. 
H. K. HENDRICKS, prisoner at Winchester; never re- 
turned. 
WILLIAM HARBISON, wounded at Antietam ; discharged 
for loss of arm at Chancellorsville ; date not stated. 



024 IIISTOKV OF THE 

FRAZIER J. IIOFFER. promoted to second lieutenant Oct. 
I, 1802; killed at Chancellorsville May 3, 18()8. 

ABEDNEGO TRUMAN, killed at (Tettysbur<r. Pa.. July 8, 
1868. 

BEXJAMIN F. KEMP, wounded at Gettysburg and New 
Hope Church ; veteran. 

JAMES H. KEMP, killed at Chancellorsville May 8, 1868. 

WESLEY KEMP, transferred to V. R. C, date and cause 
not reported. 

DAVID B. KEMP, wounded at Gettysburg; veteran. 

WILLIAM E. KEMP, promoted corporal ; mustered out Sept. 
1, 1864. 

SILAS D. KEMP, wounded at New Hope Church ; mustered 
out Sept. 1, 1864. 

IIEXRY KUXKLER, deserted 1862; returned and wounded 
at Chancellorsville; not reported further. 

BERNARD KXUST, wounded at Cedar Mountain, Antie- 
tam and siege of Atlanta ; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JOIIX II. LAXSFORD, promoted corporal; wounded at 
Chancellorsville and New Hope Church; veteran. 

IIENRV LOXGE, wounded at Antietam and Chancellors- 
ville ; mustered out Sept. 22, 1864. 

MICHAEL LAIKAUFF, wounded at Chancellorsville; dis- 
charged Feb. 10, 1864. 

JOHN MEISTER, discharged for wound at Cedar Mountain ; 
date not stated. 

JACOB ^L\TII1AS, lost a leg at Resaca and discharged ; date 
not stated. 

JOSEPH MEYER, discharged 1868; date and cause not 
stated. 

WILLIAM MOXROE. killed at Gettysburg July 8, 1868. 

CONRAD MEIIXE, promoted to corporal and to sergeant; 
date not stated ; killed at (Gettysburg July 8, 1808. 

CYRUS MORRIS, discharged April 12, 1868; cause not re- 
ported. 

JOIIX XOBLE, killed at Gettysburg July 8, 1868. 

LAWREXCE OFFER, wounded at Peach Tree Creek ; not 
reported on further. 

FERDIXAXD OESTICH, died Oct. — , 1862; place and 
cause not reported. 

ADDISOX PADGET. wounded at Antietam and Chancel- 
lorsville ; mustered out Sept. 1, 186-1. 



T\Vp:NTY-SEVENTir INDIANA. 625 

JOSEPH REIvS, veteran. 

WILLIAM RICIITER, mustered out Sept. 1, 18G4. 

JOSEPH ROELLE, promoted corporal, 1862, and orderly- 
sergeant, 1864; veteran. 

RUDOLPH REISIN, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

THOMAS STILLWELL, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

CHRISTIAN SCHRAKER, wounded at Resaca; mustered 
out Sept. 12, 1864. 

PAUL SCHMIDT, discharged Oct., 1868, for wounds at 
Chancellorsville. 

ANDREW SCHUBLE, killed at Chancellorsville, Va., May 
8,. 1868. 

JOSEPH SCHROEDER, wounded at Winchester and Get- 
tysburg; mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

JOHN SEIFERT, wounded at Antiet im ; discharged Dec, 
1862 ; cause not stated. 

ELI STOLLCUP, killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 8, 1868. 

RICHARD SUDDETHS, died at Darnestown, Md., Nov.. 
18, 1861 ; disease. 

PETER SIEBEL, wounded at Chancellorsville ; reported a 
deserter. 

DANIEL SIEBEL, wounded at New Hope Church; mus- 
tered out Sept. ], 1864. 

MATHIAS SCHMIDT, mustered out with band, June 4, 
1862. 

FREDERICK W. SCHMIDT, killed at Gettysburg. Pa., 
July 8, 1864. 

GEORGE W. STRINGER, veteran. 

JOHN J. SMITH, transferred to V. R. C. for wound at Get^ 
tysburg; date of transfer not reported. 

JOSEPLI SCHINDLER, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

FERDINAND SCHUMACHER, mustered out with band 
Aug. 4, 1864. 

ORBAGAST VOLLMER, died at Washington, D. C, Dec. 
20, 1862 ; disease. 

GEORGE VUNDER, mustered out Sept. 1, 1864. 

FERDINAND WINDER, discharged Dec. 1862, for wounds 
at Antietam. 

THOMAS S. WELDON, wounded at Gettysburg; veteran. 

RANSOM W^ALLACE, veteran. 

GEORGE YOCHRIN, killed at Cedar Mountain, Va., Aug. 
9, 1862. 

40 



626 HISTORY OF THE 

RECRUITS. 

ANTHONY BERGER, mustered in Feb. 24, 1862. 

JOHN E. GARDNER, mustered in March 28,1864; dis- 
charged for wounds ; date of discharge or place wounded 
not reported. 

LEANDER JERGER, mustered in Feb. 24, 1862; promoted 
second lieutenant at once ; promoted first lieutenant July 
1, 1864; mustered out Nov. 4, 1864. 

JOHN CONRAD, killed at Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 1862. 



KILLED AND MORTALLY WOUNDED. 

Winchester, Virginia, May 25, 1862. 

Company A, Corporal Jacob Michael ; Company C, Ed- 
ward Qiiillen ; Company D, Henry Albright, Adam vSchar- 
dein. 

Cedar jMountain, Virginia, August 9, 1862. 

Company A, Orderly Sergeant William Allen ; Sergeant 
Noah Allee, Richard A. Proctor; Company B, William R. 
Carson ; Company D, Bloomfield Beavers, John H. Culbert- 
son ; Company E, Sergeant Thomas Hill, Corporal John 
Jones, Philip Ross, John B. Jones; Company I, First Lieu- 
tenant George W. Reed, Thomas Deveireaux, Charles Lewis, 
Henry Lewis, George D. Martin, John W. Martin, Abraham 
Swartz, David Tuggall; Company K, Bernard Hock, George 
Yochirn. 

Antietam, Maryland, Septemrer 17, 1862. 

Compan}- A, Second Lieutenant William Van Arsdol, 
Jasper Hadden, John W. Hansel, John Layton ; Company B, 
Joseph C. Hanna ; Company C, First Lieutenant Jacob A. 
Lee, Color Sergeant Lewis D. Payne, Corporal John Louis, 
Emanuel Fulp, John Gardner, Martin Layman, John H. Parr; 
Company D, Joseph Fiddler, Elias Grace, John A. Henshaw, 
William H. Smith, Eldridge Williams; Company E, James 
Herrinshaw, Nathan Logan, Franklin Smith; Company F, 
Captain Peter Kopp, Alfred L. Cantwell, John Gillespie; 
Company G, William J. Hensley, Robert McLaughlin ; Com- 
pany H, Luther Beadle, William Deputy, Samuel S. Lem- 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 627 

ming; Company I, Corporal Robert L. Good, Carmen New- 
man, Robert VV. Faith; Company K, Corporal Gregory Hal- 
ler, John Conrad, James DufFey, Joseph Evans. 

Chancellorsvii.le, Virginia, May 8, 1803. 

Company A, First Lieutenant Simpson S, Ilamrick, 
Sergeant James Ballard, Corporal William O. Kenyon, James 
De Witt; Company B, William B. Matthews, Samuel Todd, 
James Wagoner; Company C, Sergeant Washington Doren, 
Corporal Jerome Sims, Corporal John Zigler, Corporal John 
Runkle, William vSandifer; Company D, Captain John A. 
Cassady, Edward M. Cavins, George W. Donica, William 
Lewis, William E. Mulky ; Company E, Joseph Carroll, 
Hilliard G. Baldwin, Solomon Cox; Company F, Second 
Lieutenant Isaac Van Buskirk, Joseph Trollinger, William 
Williams, Alfred Wilson; Company G, Sergeant James H. 
Terhune, Asa B. Terhune, Thomas Hillman ; Company H, 
James Booher, Williapi H. Farthing, Robert McClannahan ; 
Company I, Thomas J. Dodson, John vS. McMannis, Joseph 
W. Smith, David B. McDonald; Company K, Second Lieu- 
tenant Julian F. Hoffer, Xavier Donhauer, James H. Kemp, 
Andrew Schuble. 

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 3, LS63. 

Company A, Corporal Christopher C. Showalter, George 
Bales, Thaddeus Hunt, Charles E. Wishmeyer ; Company B, 
Corporal Elisha Guthry ; Company C, James A. Alexander, 
Daniel Colvin, Jesse Wells ; Company D, Sergeant Stephen 
J. Reyburn, Sergeant Elijah Tumy, Thomas Hall, Samuel R. 
Lewis, Josephus D. Lynn, Peter Utnphress, Laban Williams; 
Company E, James M. Chapman, William H. Wilson; Com- 
pany F, Sergeant Isaac McKnight, Abraham Lister; Com- 
pany G, Sergeant John P. Fletcher, L. C. Anthrum, D. T. 
David, Lyfus Holt ; Company H, Sergeant George W. Batch- 
e\ov, Thomas J. Lett; Company I, Sergeant Joseph Gilmore, 
Ira Hunt; Company K, Sergeant Conrad Mehne, Jacob 
Gardner, Abednego Innman, William Monroe, John Noble, 
Eli Stollcup, Frederick W. Schmidt. 

Resaca, Georgia, May 15, 1864. 

Company A, Henry A. Moyees; Company B, Anderson 
Dickert ; Company E, Thomas B. Gregory, John R. Keller; 



G28 HISTORY OF THE 

Company F, George Edwards, Reuben Hendrickson ; Com- 
pany G, Francis Betchman; Company H, John Meek; Com- 
pany I, First Lieutenant George T, Chapin, Hamilton H. 
Asher ; Company K, Barney Cullen. 

New Hope Church, Georgia, May 25, 1864. 

Company B, William Hanna, William J. Flynn ; Com- 
pany C, Sergeant William Beeson ; Company H, Albert E. 
Ammons; Company I, John W. Patrick, Manford Kutch; 
Company K, John Donnelly. 

Peach Tree Creek, Georgia, July 20, 18G4, and Siege 
OF Atlanta. 

Company B, George W. Stout, George W. Herendon ; 
Company E, John Webber, James Lashley ; Company F, 
Thomas F. Pratt; Company G, John K. W^hetstine ; Com- 
pany H, William Station. 

At Various Places. 

Joiin Cheatham, Company C, on picket, Sm-ithfield, Va.; 
William B. Atchinson, Company D, Mississippi Flotilla, Jan. 
15, 1862; James Dillon, Company K, Harpers Ferry, Va,, 
May 29, 1864. 

DIED OF DISEASE, ACCIDENT, ETC. 

Company A. 

James Allen, Alliance, Ohio, Sept. 16, 1861, railroad ac- 
cident ; Benjamin F. Crose, April, 1868, place not stated, dis- 
ease ; Charles W. Gibbons, Baltimore, Md., June 19, 1863, 
small pox; Jessie Jackson, Winchester, Va., March 27, 1862, 
pneumonia; Sylvester Layton, ^Vnnapolis, Md., Dec. 22, 1862, 
cause not stated; Jessie C. McCoy, Fredrick, Md., March 12, 
1862, cause not stated ; John J. Palmer, Darnestown, ]Md.. 
Nov. 12, 1861, typhoid fever; Charles R. Rawlings, Darnes- 
town, Md., Nov. 20, 1861, typhoid fever; David Steward, 
Smoketown, Md., date not stated, general debility ; William 
Turner, Fredrick, Md., Feb. 24, 1862, cause not stated; Earl 
Moore, Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 14, 1863, disease. 

Company B. 

Stephen Bordman, Nov. 12, 1861, place not stated, dis- 
ease ; Benjamin F. Chestnut, Nov. 7, 1861, place not stated,^ 



T^VENTV-SE^'ENTIr INDIANA. G29 

measles; George E. Davis, Dec. 12, 1801, disease, place not 
stated; Joshua Gaugh, Philadelphia, Penn., May 14, 1862, dis- 
ease ; Willis Hubbard, died while a prisoner. Belle Isle, Va., 
Aug., 1862; Isaiah Iloverstock, .Stafford Court House, Va., 
1868, date and cause not stated; Pierson Wagley, Darnes- 
tovvn, Md., Dec, 1861, disease; Charles U. Carroll, near At- 
lanta, Ga., Aug., 1864, disease; Joseph Richardson, Dam No. 
4, Md., Dec, 1862, disease; John vS. Hackler, 1861, measles, 
place and date not stated; Green Overton, Indianapolis, Ind., 
Aug., 1861, before muster in. 

Company C. 

Joseph Aikens, Fredrick, Md., Jan. 4, 1862, disease; John 
Acton, Baltimore, Md., Dec. 28,1861, disease; Godfrey 
Baker, Fredrick, Md., Jan. 1, 1862, disease; Henry Craw- 
ford, Kelley's Ford, Va., Sept. 1868, disease; William Cline, 
Darnestown, Md., Nov. 18, 1861, measles ; William G. Evans, 
Strasburg, Va., May 21, 1862, disease; Joseph Garrison, 
Fredrick, Md., Jan. 29, 1862, disease; Jasper Nugent, Staf- 
ford Court House, Va., Feb. 16, 1863, disease; Luthur Wind- 
ship, Fredrick, Md., Dec 31, 1861, disease; James Elliott, 
Stevenson, Ala, March 14, 1864, disease; William Tread way, 
in prison Anderson ville, Ga., exposure and starvation. 

Company D. 

Second Lieutenant Meridith W. Leach, Camp Halleck, 
Md., Dec, 1861, disease; Second Lieutenant Daniel R. Con- 
rad, Camp Halleck, Md., Jan., 1862, pneumonia; Corporal 
Samuel F. Kern, Camp Halleck, Md., Feb. 1, 1862, pneumo- 
nia ; Enoch Anderson, July 11, 1868, place and cause not 
stated; John Bowden, Feb. 5, 1862, place and cause not 
stated ; John Brothers, Jan. 2, 1862, disease, place not stated ; 
David Carter, Evansville, Ind., July 10, 1864, disease; Perry 
Davis, disease, place and date not stated; Peter Isaac, Lynch- 
burg, Va., July 28, 1862, hardships of prison life; Wesley 
Slider, April 3, 1863, disease, place not stated; Nathan Tin- 
der, Feb. 11, 1862, disease, place not stated; Adam Williams, 
December 9, 1861, disease, place not stated; John Younger, 
Lynchburg, Va., Sept. 10, 1862, prison hardships; Michael 
Seegar, June 27, 1862, place and cause not stated. 



g80 history of the 

Company E. 

Sergeant Patrick Curley, Washington, D. C, Nov. 11 ^ 
1862, prison hardships; William C. Boyd, Lynchburg, Va., 
date not reported, prison hardships ; Lewis Clark, Alexandria, 
Va., Dec. 11, 1808, cause not reported; Benjamin T, Gregory, 
Washington, D. C, Dec. 7, 18G2, prison hardships; William 
Gainor, Frederick, Md., Dec, 1861, disease; George Gesler, 
on his way home, date and cause not reported; Joseph Haw- 
kins, Williamsport, Md. , Dec. 2, 1862, disease; George W. 
Honey, Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 14, 1864, disease; Henry Huskes,. 
Washington, D. C, Sept. 12, 1862, disease; Thomas Layton, 
place not stated, Dec. 9, 1862, disease; John J. Williams, 
Darnestown, Md., Nov. 9, 1861, disease ; Ivy (or Ira) Wilson, 
Winchester, Va., March 21, 1862, disease. 

Company F. 

George W. Goins, Feb. 27, 1862, disease, place not re- 
ported ; William Brown, Darnestown, Md., date not reported, 
disease; William Barnes, Darnestown, Md., date not re- 
ported, disease; Benjamin V. Campbell, Camp Halleck, Md., 
date not reported, disease; Jessee K. Denney, Berryville, Va., 
1862, disease, precise date not reported; Martin O'Connell, 
Chattahoochee River, Ga., disease, date not reported; Henry 
Sipes, Nov. 23, 1861, measles, place not reported; Robert M. 
Tatlock, Fredrick, Md., disease, date not reported; John 
Thomas, died on his way home, disease, date and place not 
reported ; Benjamin White, disease, date and place not re- 
ported. 

Company G. 

Corporal Morris Beavers, Camp Halleck, Md., Dec. 20, 
1861, disease; Erasmus Davenport, Frederick, Md., Dec, 
1861, disease; James Davenport, Baltimore, Md., Oct., 1862, 
disease; Jeptha Engle, believed to have died of disease, but 
place and date unknown ; Henry Fry, died while a prisoner, 
date and place unknown; Henry J. Fleenor, known to have 
died of disease, but place and date not reported ; Corporal 
Samuel W. Fleenor, Darnestown, Md., Sept. 18, 1861. dis- 
ease; William Gladden, Frederick, Md., Jan. 11, 1862, dis- 
ease ; Charles Horner, near Atlanta, Ga., Sept. 1, 1864, dis- 
ease ; George W. Kane, Frederick, Md., date and cause not 
stated ; John Lester, Frederick, Md., Jan., 1862, disease ; John 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 631 

Robison, Camp Jo Holt, Oct. 31, 1861, disease; Charles Rob- 
ison, in prison Richmond, Va. , July, 1S62, hardships; J. M. 
Wright, in prison Richmond, Va., July, 1862, prison hard- 
ships; William Mathews, Frederick, Md., date and cause not 
reported. 

Company H. 

Sergeant Newton H. Fitzgerald, Fort Monroe, Va., date 
not stated, prison hardships; William R. Adams, Alexandria, 
Va., Jan., 1862, nostalgia; Green Bias, Frederick, Md., Jan. 
11, 1862, pneumonia ; Calvin Brooks, Winchester, Va., March, 
1862, fever; John M. Brower, Fort Delaware, Del.. Oct. 22, 
1862, prison hardships; William H. Chambers, Alexandria, 
Va., April 25, 1864, disease; Henry Deputy, Frederick, Md., 
Jan. 12, 1862, consumption ; Martin F. Hall, Washington, D. 
C, Nov. 21, 1862, prison hardships; Harvey B. Hill, killed 
in railroad accident Dec. 7, 1861, place not reported ; Oren E. 
Jayne, Frederick, Md., Jan. 22, 1862, consumption; Richard 
Muster, near Pittsburg, Penn., date not reported, railroad ac- 
cident ; Patrick Murphy, Lynchburg, Va., date not reported, 
prison exposure; Parker Truelock, Winchester, Va., April 
18, 1862, fever; John W. Walton, Lynchburg, Va., July, 1862, 
prison exposure; James R. Baldwin, Jeftersonville, Ind., Oct. 
11, 1864, cause not reported; Granville Holt, Maryland 
Heights, Md., disease, date not reported. 

Company I. 

Cyrus Alexander, Maryland Heights, Md., Oct. 22, 1862, 
disease ; James A. Grimes, Strasburg, Va., May 22, 1862, dis- 
ease; John Hussey, Philadelphia, Pa., April 22, 1862, disease; 
]Marion Harris, Darnestown, Md., Dec. 1, 1861, disease; Wal- 
ter Logan, Berryville, Va., April 1, 1862, measles; Samuel 
Pickens, Jeffersonville, Ind., July 22, 1864, disease ; Henry B. 
Thomas, :sraryland Heights, Md., Sept. 28, 1862, disease. 

Company K. 

Sergeant Joseph Mehringer, Jan., 1862, disease, place 
not stated; William Suddeth, June 9, 1862, disease, place not 
stated ; David Bradley, Chattanooga, Tenn., June 20, 1864, 
disease; James A. Cooper, Frederick, Md., Jan. 22, 1862, 
disease; Ferdinand Oestich, Oct., 1862, place and cause not 
reported; Richard Siulclclh, DariK'stowu. Md., Nov., 1861, 



C32 HISTORY OF THE 

disease; Orbagast Volliner, Washington, D. C, Dec. 20, 
18B2, disease. 

WOUNDED, BUT NOT MORTALLY. 

This is not a complete list. There are very few names, 
if any, on this list, that should not be upon it, great care 
being exercised in that respect. But it has been impossible to 
get a full list of the wounded. 

Field and staff, Colonel Silas Colgrove, Chancellorsville 
and Peach Tree Creek. 

Company B, at Buckton, Va., May 28, 1862; William 
L. Allen, James P. P. Denton, James O. Loughlin, Daniel 
L. McCarter, Charles W. vStanle3', John Sparks, Corporal 
John Russell, Corporal Elisha Guthry. 

Winchester, Virginia, May 25, 1862. 

Company A, Captain John W. Wilcoxen ; Company C, 
Emanuel Pulp. John K. McCaskey, Ira Kyle; Company D, 
Eli Clampitt ; Company E, Sergeant Patrick Curley ; Com- 
pany F; Captain Peter Kopp, George Edwards, William W, 
Edwards, H. .S. Gabbert, Franklin Lemmons ; Company H, 
W. W. Fitzgerald, Adam Bias, Patrick Murphy, GritTith 
Ogden, James M. Richards ; Company K, Captain R. M. 
Wellman, Fredolin Hager, Paul Geppner, Joseph Schroeder. 

Cedar Mountain, Virginia, August 9, 1862. 

Company A, Corporal Emanuel Nicewander, William 
Dodson, Simpson Evans,' Charles W. Gibbons, Evan T. 
Grider, Charles Wishmeyer; Company B, George M. Critch- 
low ; Company C, Emanuel Fulp ; Company D, Lieutenant 
Thomas J. Box, Sergeant Silas W. Whitler, Corporal Austin 
N. Wilder, Elijah L Crawford, Clemmens Johnson ; Com- 
pany E, Captain G. W. Burge, Corporal Abner McDonald, 
Seth AVhite; Company G, Sergeant Charles A. Kelso, 
Joseph Stimson ; Company 11, Phillip Cox, Francis Dooley, 
William Francis, Nicholas Warner; Company I, Captain 
Tighlman H. Nance; Company K, Sergeant John B. Mel- 
choir, Corporal Conrad Eckert, Celestine Eckert, Bernard 
Knust, John Meister. 

Antietam, Maryland. 

Company A, Captain J. W. Wilcoxen, Lieutenant Sam- 
uel D. Porter, Sergeant Filburd S. Wright, Corporal James 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. 688 

Ballard, Corporal Charles M. Bowen, Corporal Spencer Mon- 
nett, Corporal C. C. Shovvalter, Corporal Marion J. Alice, 
John Bresnahan, William II. Brann, Francis Butler, James 
]M. Foss, Eri A. Gambold, Philip A. Fair, Henry A. Moyers, 
Henry Rutherford, James S. Steel, Henry Squire, Harrison 
Young; Company B, Daniel L. Arford, William J. Flynn, 
Levi F. Faith, (xeorge W. Ilerronden, Hiram Kinneman, 
James O. Laughlin, William Laux, Daniel S. McCarter, 
Rezin Sumner, Charles Combs, Sanford H. Shively. John R. 
Laughlin, John Hubbard, William Shively, Andrew J. 
Williams, Russell Davis, Henry Graun ; Company C, Joseph 
Applegate, James A. Alexander, M. S. Brown, E. R. Brown, 
James H. Bass, James Bradburn, Thomas Browning, John 
Bargman, Stark Cutsinger, John Dinn, William Doyle, 
George East, William Frye, John Hand, E. C. Jones, Ira 
Kyle, Jasper N. Layman, Allen Oaks, David Parker, Nathan 
Richardson, John Runkle, Edwin Spurgin, Ephraim Sholl, 
John Tread way, William Way land, David Wayland, George 
W. Weir, James C. Rouse, John Wells; Company D, Ser- 
geant John Palmer. Sergeant Stephen J. Raj'burn, Corporal 
Austin N. Wilder, Corporal John Bridvvell, Corporal Daniel 

B, Williams, James Buik, Francis M. Douglas, Christopher 

C. Fiddler, William Fiddler, Daniel Phillips, George W. 
Phillips, Joseph E. Myers ; Company E. Lieutenant James 
Stephens, Sergeant B. M. Clark, Corporal R. R. Bratton, 
Daniel Alton, J. A. Davis, Edwin Freeman, John C. Fitz- 
gerald, Martin V. Gilly, William Hennig, William S. Jones, 
Joseph R. Jones, Andrew Langton. Erastus Lane, John 
Murat, Josiah Robinson, Elijah II. Tummy, Amos White, 
John Chapman : Company F, Lieutenant J. D. McKahin, 
Sergeant John M. Bloss, Sergeant James Campbell, Corporal 

Joseph V. Kenton, Thomas Ard, Calvin ^Vrthur. James S. 
Arthur, Joshua Bunnell, John Campbell, Dawson Denney, 
William W. Edwards, \Villiam Eads, Thomas M, Gascon, 
William II. Gillaspie, James B. Gillaspie, Henry C. Gabbert, 
TiglTlman H. Gentry, Howard II. Hensley, Philip ^IcMannus, 
Thomas McCjinnis, Francis Ottvvell, James Sherman, Joshua 
Tatlock, David B. \'ance, Samuel R. Vinson, Henry Van 
Voorst, John Williams, John Weaver, Barton \\'. Mitchell ; 
Company G, Elijah Baker, Jacob C. Fisher, James J. T^ane, 
Timothy L. Pratt; Company' II, Corporal \'olney \Valton, 
Corporal Alonzo Olmslead, Corporal Jonathan Baker, John 



034 HISTORY OF THE 

Beadle, George W. Beasley, Henry Brathouse, Austin Dun- 
lap, Thomas Dorset, Joshua L. Foster, Emanuel C. Jones, 
Enoch Layton, Dennis W. Ogden, Orren Shepherd, Samuel 
H. Steel, Joseph W, Tobias, Perry Booher ; Company I, 
Lieutenant George T. Chapin, Corporal Isaac Haddin, Cor- 
poral John B. Clapsaddle, John Q. Adams, Lewis W. De- 
Wenter, William L. Douglas, Henry Eaken, John L. Gilmore, 
James ISL Hall, George Lawrence, Joseph W. Smith, John 
Scott, Alfred A. Keck, Sergeant James F. Nosier, Ira Hunt, 
Thaddeus M. Nance, Reuben Newman, William H. Storms ; 
Company K, Corporal David Burger, F, A. Sermersheim, 
Edward Duffy, John E. Gardner, William Harbison, Bernard 
Kunst, Henry Longe, Adison Padget, John Seifert, Ferdi- 
nand Winder. 

Chancellorsv'ille, Viugixia. 

Company A, Corporal Marion J. Allee, John Bresnahan,. 
Hiram Busby, Valentine T. Proctor, Henry Squire, William. 
W. Warner, Elijah H. Wilkinson ; Company B, Lieutenant 
William Hubbard, Sergeant Ira Brashears, Robert Herron,^ 
Hiram Horrall ; Company C, Captain Josiah C. Williams, 
Lieutenant Roger S. Loughery, Sergeant Isaac D. Harter, Ser- 
geant John Q. A. Carvin, Corporal William Beeson, Corporal 
Samuel Beemer, Joshua Chambers, William Green, Daniel 
Greer, J. E. Hart, Jasper N. Layman, Morgan Pitcher, Louis 
Smith, James Dinn, John B, Vancheif, Merrick S. Brown^ 
John Joyce, Thomas J. Acton, David Wayland, Edmund C. 
Jones, John Elliott, John Young, William Treadway ; Com- 
pany D, James Alexander, Jonathan A. Cooper; Company 
E, Captain George W. Fesler, Abaslon McDonald, Henry C. 
Austin, A. J. Arnold, Washington Akester, Joseph D. Bar- 
bor, David Brown, David Everhart, Job Gilly, John Jackson, 
Andrew Langton, Samuel Weever, Charles H. Weever, Geo. 
W. White, Amos White, Corporal William Wagoner, Cor- 
poral John G. Wallace, John Bonner, James M. Bomer ; Com- 
pany F, Thomas Ard, William C. Rilly, Henry Van \"oorst, 
Christopher Sneider ; Company G. Lieutenant James E. 
White, James P. Kelso. Jacob Gilmore ; Aaron Fleenor ; Com- 
pany H, Lieutenant Stephen D. Lyon, James M. Fowler, 
James Todd, Nicholas Warner ; Company I, Corporal James 
Steers, Lee Hazel wood, Reuben Newman, Warren Perry, 
John Howard; Company K, Captain Stephen Jergor, t^er- 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INDIANA. (385 

geant George Mehringer, Corporal Frederick Vogel, John 
Ackerman, Conrad Beck, John Tuhrman, Leonard Ilaller, 
Harry Kunkler, John H. Lansford. Michael Leikaufl", Adison 
Padget, Paul Schmidt, Peter Seibel. 

Getty si?u KG, Pennsylvania. 

Company A, Lieutenant John R. Rankin, Corporal 
Marion J. Allee, Corporal George Tincher, Samuel Fellows, 
Thomas Wells; Company B, Captain John W. Thornburg, 
Lieutenant Thomas W. Cosey, Wm. N. Flinn, Levi F. Faith, 
David L. McCarter, Michael Keller ; Company C, Allen Aper- 
son, Elon Andrews, James Bradburn, Corporal George East, 
Sergeant Robert L. Foster, Jacob Fillman, John Hand, David 
Parker, Corporal Levi W. Willis; Company D, Captain T. 
J. Box, Lieutenant Joseph Balsley, Sergeant George W. 
Stephenson, Corporal Samuel B. Williams, Sergeant Benj. F. 
Kilgore, Rufus Williams, James M. Seibert, John P.Garrett; 
Company E, Captain George L. Fesler, Sergeant B. M. Clark, 
Sergeant W. P. Ellis, Sergeant R. R. Bratton, Corporal John 
G. Wallace, Corporal William Wagner, Henry C. Austin, A. 
J. Arnold, Thomas A. Kester, James B. Boyd, William Doan, 
James Lashley, Samuel T. Osman, Samuel S. Weever ; Com- 
pany F, Sergeant Joseph Kenton, Sergeant James G. Baker, 
John Groves, Reuben Hendrickson, W. H. Hushaw, Samuel 
Holler, Franklin Lemons, Peter Ryan ; Company G, John 
Atkins, Alexander Andrews, Christopher Melton, Robert 
Melton, Nathan Terhune, William J. Wells, William Weekly, 
George Kent ; Company H, Captain Joseph Balsley, Color- 
sergeant John L. Files, Corporal Zoda Butler, Francis Dooley, 
Andrew Jones, Lewis King, John E. Lett, John Muster, 
Olliver Shepherd, Harland Anderson, James R. Baldwin, 
Franklin Garsage ; Company I, Lieutenant John K. McCas- 
ky, John Hickson, Reuben Lucas; Company K, Firs-t Lieu- 
tenant John Haberle, Corporal Andrew Streigel, Corporal 
James C. Thomas, Corporal Gregory Haller, Corporal F. A. 
Sermersheim, Thomas Evans, Edward Evans, Benj. I). Kemp, 
David B. Kemp, Joseph Schroeder, John J Smith. 

Resaca, Georgia. 

Company A, Corporal Marion J. Allee, Joseph II. 
Smith, Elijah H. Wilkinson ; Company B, Sergeant Peter Ra- 
gle, Sergeant Michael W'alhick, Corporal Abner Wilson; Com- 



63C HISTORY OK THE 

pany C. John Hincliee, John Joyce, George W. jSIcGaffick, 
Charles F. Plymate ; Company D, Lieutenant George W. 
Stephenson, James M. Johnson, Samuel Simpson, William 
H. Stephenson, John L. Asher, Charles M. Ash, Benjamin F. 
Kilgore ; Company E, Sergeant W. P. Ellis, Sergeant R. R. 
Bratton, vSergeant David Everheart, Corporal James II. 
Dougherty, John Jackson, John Murat, James Maxwell, 
Samuel S. Weever, Jordan Welsh, Corporal John G. Wallace, 
Jeffrey J. Cox, Philip Osmaii, Andrew White, James S. 
Boyd; Company F, David Cook, Henry Van Voorst, Ser- 
geant John Van Buskirk, John Weaver, Captain John M. 
Bloss, John Campbell, Franklin Lemon, Enoch Richardson, 
James D. Sherman; Company G, James Jacobs; Company 
H, Allen Bryant, Joshua Deputv, Thomas Hunt, Francis M. 
James; Company K, Corporal Andrew .Streigel, John Ma- 
thias. Christian Schraker. 

New Hope Church, Georgia, 

Company A, Sergeant J, B. Gambold, James F. Hardin, 
William Stewart ; Company B, James P. P. Denton, George 
W, Gore; Company C, Orderly-Sergeant Robert L, Foster, 
Daniel Greer, Edwin Spurgeon ; Company D, Edward E. 
Reynolds, Rufus \\'illiams ; Company E, Captain James 
Stephens, William S. Jones, William H. Mears, Nelson Pur- 
cell, Seth White, Marion Mc Adams, Daniel Moucham, Rob- 
ert R, Marshall, William Stipps ; Company F, Captain John 
M. Bloss, Corporal M. H. Van Buskirk, Martin Hoover, John 
Larkins, George Welch; Company G, George Pate, Aaron 
Allen ; Company H, Corporal William Cunliff, Adam Brower, 
Phillip Cox, Thomas Dorset; Companv K,Paul Gepner, John 
E. Gardner, John H, Lansford, 

Pp:acii Tree Creek and Atlanta. 

Company A, Corporal Marion J. Allee, Henry Squire, 
A\'illiani Dodson, Noah J. Palmer; Company B, Alonzo Bug- 
her, Richard Trueblood, Alexander Callahan; Company E, 
Sergeant David Everheart, Joseph D, Barber, Jackson Hop- 
per, John Murat, Berry Street, Corporal William Wagoner; 
Company F, Orderly Sergeant Calvin Arthur, Daniel Burk ; 
Company G, George W, Prosser ; Company II, James M, 
Richards; Company K, Corporal August Donnerman, Law- 
rence Offer, Celestine Eckert, Bernard Knust. 



twenty-seventh indiana. g37 

At Various Places. 

Lieutenant Samuel D. Porter, Company A, Elk River, 
Tenn. ; Benjamin Arthur, Newtown, Va., May 24, 1802 ; Rob- 
ert Grays, on picket, Strasbur^, Va., May, 1862; Emanuel 
McCane, place and date not reported ; Ira Kyle, Front Royal, 
Va., July 8, 18G2. 

PRISONERS 

A list of those taken prisoner as far as reported. Evi- 
dently not a complete list. 

Surgeon J. J. Johnson, remained at hospital at Win- 
chester; Assistant Surgeon G. V. Woollen, remained at hos- 
pital at Culpeper. 

Company A. 

Captured at Winchester, Woodson Bryant, Hiram Busby, 
James DeWitt, Sylvester Layton, Noah J. Palmer, Patrick 
Ryan, Thomas Wells. Captured at Cedar Mountain, Eari 
Moore. 

Company B. 

Captured at Buckton, Captain W. E. Davis, Corporal, 
John Russell, Corporal Michael Wallack, Jonas Davis, Wil- 
lis Hubbard, William Laux, William B. Mathews, John W. 
Sharum, John Sparks, John Moratta. Captured at Win- 
chester, Bartlett O'Callahan, Ciiarles W. Stanley. 

Company C. 

Captured at Smithfield, William Devit. Captured at Win- 
chester, Corporal William Beeson. Captured at Chancellors- 
ville, I^ieutenant R. S. Loughery, Joshua Chambers. Captured 
at New Hope Churcli, William Treadway. 

Company D. 

Captured at Winchester, Elihu Clampitt, Peter Isaac, 
John Younger. Captured at Cedar Mountain, Lieutenant 
Thomas J. Box. 

Company E. 

Captured at Winchester, Sergeant Patrick Curley, Cor- 
poral Charles H. Weaver, A.J. Arnold, David Brown, James 
B. Boyd, William C. Boyd, Joseph Carroll, Benjamin T. 
Gregory, Samuel S. Weaver, George W. White. 



638 history of the 

Company F. 

Captured at Winchester, Captain David Van Buskirk, 
Corporal M. 11. Van Buskirk, Benjamin F. Bourne, David 
Cook, George Edwards, Michael Ilealey, John Larkins, Abra- 
ham Luyster. 

Company G. 

Captured at Winchester, Alexander Andrews, Elisha 
Bailey, Henry Fr\', Charles Horner, Thomas Kephart, Joseph 
McClain, Charles Robison, Samuel Tomey, J. M. ^Vright, 
George Wemer. 

Company H. 

Captured at Winchester, Lieutenant Stephen D. Lyon, 
Sergeant George W. Batchelor, Corporal Adam Brower, 
Adam Bias, John Brown, Reuben Holbrook, Martin F. Hall, 
John M. McConnell, Patrick Murphy, James ISL Richards, 
John W. Walton. Captured at Cedar Mountain, Corporal N. 
\V. Fitzgerald. 

Company L 

Captured at Winchester, Amos Kersey. 
Company K. 

Captured at Winchester, H. K. Hendrickson. 

VETERANS. 

Company A. 

Corporal Joseph N. Bill, Corporal Marion J. Allee, 
Corporal George Tincher, William Bales, Woodson Bryant, 
William Dodson, William Elliott, Eri A. Gambold, David 
Hansell, James F. Hardin, Lindsey Lamb, John Lewis, 
William McGrew, John B. Frichard, John L. Messier, 
Henry Squire, Samuel J. Wain, W. W. Warner, Elijah H. 
Wilkinson. 

Company B. 

Sergeant John E. Hayes, vSergeant Peter Ragle, Thomas 
Anderson, Enoch M. Bruner, Thomas R. Bruner, George M. 
Critchlow. Alexander Callahan, William Cox, Jonas Davis, 
James P. P. Denton, William M. Flinn, Levi F. Faith, 
George W. Gore, Andrew J. Keller, Andrew J. Williams, 
Michael Keller. 



twenty-seventh indiana. 639 

Company C. 

Orderly Sergeant R. L. Foster, Corporal John B. Van 
Cleif, T^JT'SS Dinn, William Fry, John Hinchee, George W. 
McGaffick, Charles F. Plymate, John Young. 

Company D. 

Corporal John Reed, Corporal William H. Stephenson, 
James Burk, William D. Steel, Abram Waughtell. 

Company E. 

Orderly Sergeant B. M. Clark, Sergeant Robert R. Brat- 
ton, Sergeant David Everheart, Corporal James H. Dough- 
erty, Henry C. Austin, Andrew J. Arnold, Washington 
Akester, David Brown, James M. Bomer, Joseph A. Davis, 
James Edward, John B. Boyd, Martin V. Gilley, Joseph R. 
Jones, John Jackson, John Lattimore, Robert R. Marshall, 
John F. Palmer, Nelson Purcell, James B. L. Shepherd, John 
A. Thomas, Samuel S. Weaver, Samuel F. Webber, Jordon 
Welch, Charles H. Weaver, John G. Wallace. 

Company F. 

Corporal John Groves, Franklin Lemmon, William H. 
Hushaw. 

Company G. 

Aaron Allen, Isaac Brown, Elisha Bailey, Henry C. 
Bevan, William J. Blue, Robert W. CoflFee, James H. Cay- 
wood, Corporal Samuel O. Fletcher, Marshall Gardner, Emery 
Howell, Noah P. Hillman, Peter D. Jacobs, John H. Thomp- 
son, William Weekly. 

Company H. 

Sergeant George W. Coons, Corporal \'olney Walton, 
Corporal Alonzo Olmstead, Adam Bias, Allen Bryant, Phillip 
Cox, Sergeant Henry A. Farris, Reuben Holbrook, Griffin 
Stradley, Corporal W illiam Muster. 

Company I. 

Sergeant Lewis P. Stone, Corporal Hamilton Asher, Lee 
Hazlewood, John C. Heath, John Hixon, Jolin Howard, 
George Lawrence, Thaddeus M. Nance, Reuben Newman, 
Michael McKinney, James Parsons, John W. Patrick, John 
Scott, William R. PLile, James Stevens. 



640 



HISTORY OK THE 



Company K. 

Ordelry Sergeant Joseph Roelle. Sergeant Frederick Git- 
ter. Sergeant F. X. Sermersheim, Reinhart Rich, John Ack- 
erman, James Burton, Edward Duffev. August Donnerman, 
Celestine Eckert. Benjamin F. Kemp, Joseph Reis. George 
W. Stringer, Ransom Wallace. 





ii><13e::x:. 



I'AGK 

Aji;(', avc;rage '^2 

Amputation Scene •5H") 

Antietam Dead '^•'31 

Antietani Chapter '2:57 

Antietam Map 244 

Antietam Picture 248 

Army Cumberland ... 4.'50 

Artillery Chancellorsville .'!24 

Bad Roads 120 

Balls Bluff ^)!) 

l^alsley, Capt. J 2(59 

Banks, Gen. N. P -V^^i 

Battery Park 424 

Blanket Exercise 4-");! 

Box, Capt. Thomas J 20H 

Breastworks, Sample M\ 

liresnahan, John 9C), 141 

Brown, A. H y'lH 

Brown, E. R -^58 

Brown, John ~8, 100 

Buckton Skirmish 127 

Bull Run 112, 21() 

Cahn, M 159 

Camp, Goinij; into 281 

Camp Haileck 7(5, 551 

Camp Hamilton 53 

Camp Morton 2() 

Camp Jo Holt 64 

Camp Morris 40 

Campaign, Atlanta 49(1 

Campbell, John 89 

Capitol of U.S 46 

Card Playing 83 

Cedar Mountain Battle 194 

Cedar Mountain Map 198 

Chancellorsville Chapter 306 

Chancellorsville House 312 

Clianccllors\illc Map 315 

Chapni, Lieut 474 

Dam No. 4 273 

Davis, Capt 5() 

])vku\ at (;,ettysburg 394 

Dead, Rebels burying the.... 353 

Deserter Shot 433 

Dougherty, Adjt 295, 304 

Douglass, W. T 107 



Dunker Church 245 

East, George 11 

Exchanging Coffee, etc 215 

Eairfax Station 282 

Eesler, Colonel 291, 304 

Fesler, Capt. Peter 291 

Files, Col.-Sergt. J. L 141 

Fireside, A typical 544 

Flag Captured 476 

Flag-, One 495 

Flags, New 299 

Flap Jacks 55 

Francis, Col., Letter of 401 

Furguson, Lieut. O. P 157 

Gambold, Sergt. J. P. 302 

Gerniaina Ford 309 

Gettysburg Chapter 365 

Gettysburg Map 392 

Gettysburg Bearing 554 

Gore, G. W 96 

Gordon, Gen. Geo. H . . . . 106, 108 

Gosport Money 90 

Grand Rounds 68 

Grant, Gen. U. S 449 

Graybacks 114 

Green, Gen. Geo. H 173, 176 

Guns 49,172 

Haberle, Capt 269 

Hamilton, Gtn 52, 107 

Hamrick, Lieut. S. S 340 

Hardtack and Bacon 548 

Harpers Ferry 98 

Harrison, Col. A. 1 73 

Hart, Ed 208 

Headquarters, Meade's 376 

Howard, Hensley 170 

H ight of the men 22 

Holloway, Capt 340 

Hooker, Gen 288, 299 

Hoosier City . .76, 551 

Hospital—Gettysburg 38i» 

Ho.stetter, \V. H 47 

Infantry Engaged 333 

Inspections 69 

Jamison, Lieut. J. M 45H 



INDE 

pa(;k 
Johnson, Surirt'on 5H 

Kelleys Ford CrossiiiL: ^507 

Kelleys Ford Camp 41'2 

Killed, etc (i'it; 

Kopj), Capt 1~<I 

Loughlin, John D 125 

Loutrhlin, Joseph D 125 

Last Month 51H 

Lee, Lieut. J. A 157 

Lincoln, President 2, 'M)l 

Loujihery. Lieut. R. S 274 

Mansfield, Gen. J. K 241 

Maryland Heights 265 

Meade, Gen ^^71 

Meadow, Gettysburg ''JSl 

Mehringer, Maj :^9 

Merrimack 418 

Mississippi 427 

Monument at Gettysburg 404 

Monument at Jasper, Ind 541 

Morri-son, Col. A. L 78 

Morton, Gov. O. I* 2(i 

Morton, Cam]) 2H 

Mount X'ernoii 41'.' 

Muddy Branch H4 

McClelland, Gen. G. B....it7, 288 
McKasky, Lieut. J. K 2115 

Nativity of men 21 

New Hope Church 481 

Newspapers in Camp 83 

Newtown l':^2 

Nosier, Sergt. J. F 117 

Notions, First of Soldiering. . . 7 

New York 481 

Occupations Represented 20 

Officers Appointed Hit 

Par.^^ons, W. M 172 

Payne, Col.-Sergt. L. I) 193 

Peach Tree Creek Chapter . . . 517 

Peach Tree Creek Map 525 

Picket Reserve 22;> 

Pies, Got .\ny. \unly 22:^ 

Porter, Lieut. S. 1) 45(1 

Pris(in(.'rs fi;>7 

Prisons, Rebel 492 

Quint, Chai)lain 42H 



X. 



\ 



Rag, The power ot 411 

Rankin, Lieut. J. R 7.'1 

Rappahannock, Pack to 40(> 

Rappahannock, Re-crossing.. Ml 

Reisen, Rudolph 47 

Recruiting the Regiment i:^ 

Resaca Chapter 4H4 

Resaca Map 471 

Review, Grand 78, 2!(8 

Roll Call l'^4 

Roster, Regimental 557 

Ruger, Gen. T. H 298, 80:5 

Rundell, Lieut. F. 1) 852 

Sharp, Sergt.-Maj. J. R 802 

Sherman, Gen. W. T 4(i2 

Slaves 91, 512 

Slocum, Gen. H. W 298 

Sons of \'eterans '^^O 

South Carolina Brigade 887 

Stafford Court House 287 

Stampede at Chancellorsville. 821 

Stimson, J. \' -^^ 

Sword, Col. Colgrove's 520 

Tents, Our First 428 

Thomas, Gen. George H 4f^0 

Tullahoma, Tenn 445 

Twiford. Surgeon W. H 852 

\-an Buskirk. Capt. D 159 

\'an Buskirk, Sergt. John 8H 

\'an Buskirk, Lieut. Isaac 85 

Van Buskirk, >L H 9. 122 

\'an \oorst, Henry f^9 

\eteran Roll ^'^^ 

Wagon Train ^^2 

Wagon Train Stampede 188 

Wash Day '-^l"' 

Welcome Twenty-seventh 54»i 

Whitted. Chaplain *. • 107 

Wilcoxen, Capt. J. W 474 

Williams, Capt. J. C in. 274 

Williams, Ch'U. A. S 104 

Williamsi)ort, Md 154 

Winchester Ciiapter 102 

Winchester Battle 154 

Wniclu'Ster Battle, Since 1<>0 

Wofiord's Brigade 2(i2 

Woollen, Sergt. G. \' 487 

WouiKied ti'^'-J 



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